The Fourth Council Race
by Knight Vigilant Koren
Summary: A few minor and realistic changes in the decisions made by the leaders of humanity drastically altered the path of Citadel Space and the Reaper War. This is the story of caution and planning over recklessness, the path of the juggernaut over the glass cannon. This is the story of humanity as it should have been. A power worthy of its Council seat, and one the Reapers can't ignore.
1. Chapter 1

_Standard disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect, nor any other content that you recognise. Some characters and systems are original creations. I am receiving no money for my work._

* * *

 _My thanks to HTM for sorting through my spelling and grammar._

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 **Washington DC - Earth**

 **2084.12.14**

* * *

The President of the United States, Matthew Mattel, took his place at the centre of the cabinet table and tried to hide his apprehension about the coming meeting. Ideally, this discovery on Mars would have happened in his first term, before he had been burdened with 4 years of foreign policy successes, failures and compromises. Actually, any time when he had more authority at home and on the world stage would have been preferable to him.

As it was, he was less than a year into his second term and the airwaves were already full of speculation about his successor. He hadn't been able to spend nearly as much time stamping down on that as he should have done. He had been dealing with another event for the last six months, a discovery with world shattering implications.

His deputy chief of staff, Sam Davenport, began the briefing. "Mr. President, as you are aware, last month the exploration team finally managed to interface one of our computers with the data systems in the alien installation."

Like most of those present, Sam still had to take a moment to compose himself before continuing. Actual evidence of alien life? It was momentous and completely turned the world on its head. "A week ago, the translation programme finally managed to get a decent grip on the alien language. We now know that they called themselves 'Prothean', and that this was a research and monitoring installation for the study of primitive life forms, by which they seem to have meant us. We also know that the facility was abandoned approximately fifty thousand years ago."

President Mattel nodded serenely as if this was just another meeting about one of the hundreds of things that vied for the President's attention. It wasn't of course, but his staff needed to believe that someone was in control and knew what they were doing. The President indicated that the briefing should continue. "Violet, how are we doing with the European Union?"

Violet Benson, his Secretary of State, cleared her throat and summarised her activities in the last six months. "As everyone is aware, the Prothean base is at the southern pole of Mars, and as such is far closer to the EU's colony of Lowell City than it is to our own. I have managed to discredit the idea that the EU owns the facility, which is the line they were pushing hard as their colony is the closest one in addition to being the first human colony on Mars."

"However, their co-operation in helping us investigate, and in keeping Russia and China in the dark as to what exactly we have found is a large marker. A marker that they are going to start calling in if we have actually begun to make progress on learning things from the ruins."

The President sighed as everyone realised that human politics were about to be added to the list of challenges that they faced in unlocking the secrets of the Prothean ruins. "Jason, where are we on the inventory?"

His chief of staff, Jason Chachki, took over with his findings. "Mr. President, we have excavated all of the areas that were caved in and thoroughly searched the surrounding area. We can be certain that what we have found is all that there is to find, at least in this area of Mars. The main facility contains the living and storage areas and laboratories for conducting biological, genetic, and social research and testing. In addition to them, at the centre of the main facility is the main computer core with its plethora of workstations."

"The large number of workstations, kept separate from the main labs indicate it's likely primary use was for computer modelling and analysis, though the computer seems to be far larger than those purposes would actually require, which has led to some doubt among members of the site team."

Jason must have noticed the frowns on the faces of several people as he quickly elaborated. "The site team is speculating it might have been connected to other installations across Prothean space in a research community specific version of the internet, or that it was a data storage area for other research posts on Mars. Or maybe their computer tech was just not as advanced as we thought. To be honest there is a lot of speculation. We just don't know enough yet."

Jason flipped the page in the folder he was holding. It was pure theatre, as everyone in the room knew. They did it all the time; do something with your hands when you need a moment to collect yourself. It distracts the people around you and they miss the fact you had to take a moment.

"The connecting tunnel we discovered leads from the main facility to the secondary area we have tentatively labelled the docking area," Jason continued. "Here there are several store rooms full of spare parts and raw materials, including one heavy security store room containing the substance that translates as 'element zero'. That substance still has all the physicists up in arms, but they are promising a preliminary report within a fortnight."

"As well as that, there is what appears to be a light manufacturing centre. The site team speculates it was present so that the Protheans could produce components for base repairs on site. They also think it's highly likely that it was used to create prefab structures for experiments Earthside on our ancestors and any other flora, fauna, or environmental locations that caught the Prothean's interest. Finally, there is the docking area itself."

Jason seemed to be having trouble getting the words out, so President Mattel finished the report. "And in the docking area, despite several of the berths being empty, probably due to their ships being used in the evacuation of the facility, the Protheans left behind what our engineering teams believe to be a 60m long scout ship, and four 600m cargo ships."

Silence reigned around the room.

Determined to make progress, the President decided to get the meeting back on track by listing their priorities. "Obviously we need to figure out how to fly those ships, that's priority one. Priority two is data mining. Jason, get the Mars colony to expand the base around the Prothean installation. Sam, coordinate with Violet and begin recruiting three teams of the world's best scientists."

Sam interrupted the President, confused. "Three teams, sir? I thought that remote access of the Prothean computers was impossible?"

A mild glare from President Mattel caused Sam to subside and allowed him to continue. "Yes, Sam, three teams. Humans can only work reliably for 8 hours a day over long periods. I don't want those computers idle for a single moment. We will not triple the amount of time it takes to learn anything useful just because we limited ourselves to one team for political or economic reasons. Something out there destroyed the Protheans, otherwise their facility would not have been evacuated in such haste, nor abandoned for so long."

The President shuddered slightly as he remembered the last line of data recorded into the facility. Unknown to almost anyone else, when the last line had been translated it had been promptly omitted from all official reports, the secret was held by only a handful of researchers and in time, allied heads of state as they would be made aware one by one.

' **They are coming.'**

It was obvious that the installation had been evacuated in haste. The prevailing theory, arrived at without the benefit of the knowledge granted by that final line, was that there was an emergency in the Prothean Empire that caused a mass recall of resources, much like the latter stages of the Roman Empire. But taken with the desperate tone of the later logs, that final line gave everyone who knew of its existence nightmares. It proved that the Protheans didn't leave the installation on Mars by choice. They fled in terror of an enemy that was hunting them, and they never returned.

Sam subsided and began to mutter with Jason about what would be needed to house such a large research staff. Composing himself, President Mattel spoke over them before moving on to speak to Violet Benson. "Sam, make sure that the research teams prioritise any maps or locations of mining and industrial plants. We need raw materials, and the Protheans have already done our surveying for us. That alone will be a massive boost to our expansion efforts, but if any of the Prothean industrial facilities at those locations survived whatever caused the evacuation here? Then we will have even more research material to work with."

"Violet, stay behind. We are going to need to talk about how we are going to confirm this with the other nations and where we go from here diplomatically. Now humanity can potentially leave the Solar System."

As the others filed out of the oval office, President Mattel began to explain the beginnings of a plan to his experienced and formidable Secretary of State. The plan for humans to provide a unified front against any aliens that they encounter, a group of nations and their future colonies acting as one, in a grand alliance of human claimed systems. It was to be the first of many meetings.

* * *

 **Camp David - Earth**

 **2086.10.16**

* * *

Whilst staring into the hypnotic flames of the log fire, President Mattel spared a glance for the snow-covered landscape that was the presidential retreat of Camp David in October. It didn't seem right somehow, that it looked the same as it always had. Not now that the world knew that aliens were real.

The Prothean maps of the Local Cluster showed over a dozen class 2 garden worlds, in the form of both planets and moons, spread over six different star systems. President Mattel had reserved five of them for his diplomatic plan. The sixth and closest system, Alpha Centauri, contained the only class 1 garden world.

This planet he had claimed on behalf of the USA and named Destiny. The class 2 garden world also in the Alpha Centauri system, now known as Twilight, had been promised to Japan in return for their cooperation with his plan. They would have the honour of founding the second extra-solar colony of mankind, as the 'something extra' they had demanded for supporting his diplomatic plan.

The other resources of the Alpha Centauri system were its gas giant, Triumvirate, which would soon host Brazil's helium-3 mining colony, to be known as First Station, and the truly huge, even by Prothean standards, element zero deposit around the distant third star of that triple star system, Proxima Centauri.

Apparently, the overlapping gravity fields of the three stars that made up the Alpha Centauri system had managed to trap a huge chunk of eezo from the original stellar nursery that formed the Local Cluster. That would soon be exploited by planned Solomon's Mines mining station, to be controlled by Kenya. The extra concessions that both of those nations had demanded in return for following President Mattel's diplomatic plan.

Now, of the target list of the USA, Russia, China, Britain, France, Germany, Poland, Italy, Spain, Japan, Thailand, India, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Turkey, Iran and Morocco, only Russia and China remained as holdouts from his diplomatic plan. The plan that had grown into the supranational organisation to be known as the Systems Alliance.

Violet Benson was meeting with the Russian President in one of the other lodges, promising him a second class 2 garden world as an enticement to gain Russia's entry to the Systems Alliance. Unmentioned was the threat that the new SA would have cheap helium-3 in abundance as it expanded, sending the cost of asteroid mining through the floor. This could, and would if necessary, be used to completely crush Russia's mineral extraction-based economy should they prove unwilling to cooperate.

The Russian President knew it as well as they did, this was merely a face-saving exercise for him as the failure of Russia to join the Systems Alliance would be the end of his country. The Russian Federation would break apart under the economic collapse that would surely follow being excluded from the Alliance. Just as the USSR had done in 1991 CE, and the Russian Federation itself had nearly done in the following years.

President Mattel himself was meeting with the President of the People's Republic of China, the last and most difficult holdout. He looked up as the door opened and President Yang Jintao entered the lodge. He rose and offered his hand to the fellow world leader. "Mr. President."

"Mr. President," President Yang returned the greeting with as much warmth as the icy blast of wind that had accompanied his entry to the lodge. "Let me state from the outset that I believe this plan of yours to be needlessly wasteful and in direct opposition to the interests of the Chinese people. I have been convinced to hear you out, but I'm not expecting our discussions to be successful."

President Mattel showed no weakness as he gestured to the two chairs set up in front of the log fire. "That would seem to be an excellent place to start, Mr. President. What are the biggest concerns of the Chinese people?"

"Luytens Star, Kaptyrn, Wolf, Gliese, Trappist," President Yang listed four of the six star systems of the Local Cluster that contained habitable worlds. "Your reservation of these star systems, and the dozen or so class 2 garden worlds the Prothean maps say they hold, for private, capitalist, populations that refuse to acknowledge the authority of the government is an intolerable attack on the Chinese Communist Party."

"As if that were not enough, you also intend to add the Guris system of the Arcturus Stream to the list. This provision of five star systems for groups who will not recognise the new Systems Alliance in any way to colonise? It's nothing more than a cowardly lack of will to properly control your own people."

"Unlike the Peoples Republic, Mr. President, we in the West do not have the tradition of telling our people what to do from behind the controls of a tank," President Mattel's voice was granite hard. The reference to the Tiananmen Square massacre of 1989 CE, where 3,000 – 10,000 unarmed, pro-democracy demonstrators had been publicly massacred by the People's Liberation Army, successfully made President Yang flush with anger at the reminder of the public relations disaster that that 'maintenance of control' had been.

Having successfully opened a chink in the fellow president's armour, President Mattel attempted to frame the controversial decision in a way that would make it acceptable to President Yang. To allow people who refused to recognise the Systems Alliance as the legitimate governing body of humanity to set up colonies, without Alliance interference, was something that set off alarm bells for China's leaders after so many years of holding their fractious state together.

Fortunately, he had more than a little of the truth on his side, as what President Yang wanted to hear was exactly why the decision had been made. To control the rebellious elements that had the potential to cause so much harm to the fledgling SA.

"However, we do recognise the need to control those who would refuse to accept the authority of the new government." President Yang merely raised an eyebrow in surprise as President Mattel began to outline the benefits of the plan.

"By allowing these independent types to colonise these five systems, they cannot use the argument that we are refusing to let them colonise anywhere. This allows us to legitimately remove, by force if need be, any human colony outside of these systems that refuses to recognise the Systems Alliance as the supreme authority over human colonies. With these colonies deep within Alliance space they will also be trapped, unable to make trouble outside our territory with any neighbours that we may have in the future."

"As an added benefit, the fact that those systems only contain class 2 garden worlds will keep their populations under control, as they will have to terraform those worlds for centuries before their population can expand without restraints. They will appear to everyone to be free, successfully defying the Alliance and setting up completely independent societies. But in reality, they will be trapped. Limited in location and growth potential they will be under our control in the ways that matter most, potential expansion and access to the wider galaxy."

President Yang now wore an expression of respect openly upon his face. "Not, I suspect, how you will be selling the idea to your own voters." His voice held more than a little amusement.

President Mattel gave him a wiry smile. "No, but it is the way that you can justify the policy to the holdouts in the Chinese Communist Party."

President Yang leaned in closer, clearly more interested and attentive than when he had arrived. "You are not what I expected, President Mattel," he remarked. "Perhaps we can work together. But there are still several stumbling blocks that China will need to be resolved before we give our consent to this… deal."

President Mattel made no outward sign of his excitement as he moved on faster than anticipated. "Such as, Mr. President?"

"Such as the governing body of the Systems Alliance being a council of representatives from its member nations. This is concerning to us, as in your current proposal the People's Republic will not have a veto." President Yang's eyes were like flecks of flint.

"China is well aware of the number of tributary states America can call on. Japan, Britain, France, Canada, Mexico and Germany, to name just a few. China will not be placed at the mercy of the imperialist powers again, Mr. President, the century of humiliation is long past. You can give a veto to yourself as well, and the other three usual suspects if you must, but you will give us a veto."

"No," The short and definite response left President Yang shocked.

"I do not think you understand Mr. President," President Yang addressed his American opposite in confident, controlled tones. "America's time as the sole superpower has ended. You owe billions of dollars in debt to China, your country relies on cheap, Chinese, goods and your advantage in military technology grows smaller every day. All while China's manpower outstrips yours more with each passing year. America no longer has the power to say 'no' when China speaks, President Mattel."

President Mattel forced down the burning anger, anger that only that intense because what President Yang said was true. Calling in America's debt would cause immense damage to the Chinese economy of course, to say nothing of the world economy. But the damage to the USA's economy would be much worse than the damage to the Chinese one if they decided to go down that route. His generals always scoffed, saying that the Chinese would never make good on their economic threat, that it would cause too much damage to their own economy.

But the same time those same generals constantly warned him of the threat of Chinese military action, stating that China was becoming more willing and able by the day to absorb the damage that would be caused in a limited conflict with the United States. Provided the gains in territory from America's allies and the loss of American power and prestige were big enough to justify it. That the Chines would be willing to risk this, but not the damage caused by economic warfare had always struck the President as absurd.

Now, as President Mattel looked across at his counterpart and saw an iron determination that made him believe that President Yang would indeed carry through on his threats. Both the declared economic threat and, if need be, the military threat that remained unspoken. The President answered his Chinese counterpart carefully.

"No. The Systems Alliance will need to represent all of humanity, with speed and certainty. The League of Nations taught us the folly of unanimous votes being required to take action, the United Nations has taught us the folly of vetoes, no matter how few there are. No nation in the Systems Alliance will have a veto on its executive council." President Yang looked as furious as President Mattel felt, so the American President pushed on before the Chinese leader could leave.

"But we are prepared to make the vote required to take action a supermajority, rather than a simple majority. For China's acceptance of this we are also prepared to offer you one more class two garden world than any other nation possesses, now and at any time in the future. The colony rights issued to the member nations for all new worlds that the Alliance discovers as we expand will reflect this."

President Yang's eyes took on a calculating glint as he mentally ran through the states China could rely on, or persuade to back them in the proposed Alliance Executive Council. "You ask much of us, Mr. President," he said slowly as President Mattel braced himself for further demands.

"In addition to the… indignity, of being denied a veto, you ask us to open all non-garden word bodies in future Chinese territory to capitalist exploiters. All they will have to do in return is recognise the Systems Alliance as controlling their military and foreign affairs, pay into the Alliance budget, and follow the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights. How can the Chinese people be expected to let capitalists exploit the people and the people's property in their own star systems? How can Chinese colonies be expected to follow a set of laws based on decadent western imperialism that completely disregards Chinese culture?"

President Yang shook his head as he rammed the point home, both leaders knew America could not force China's compliance. He had to give it, and he was going to extract more concessions from President Mattel before he gave it. "China will accept only two more class one garden worlds than any other country at any time, we will not suffer all of these indignities and attacks on our culture without receiving fair compensation for the Chinese people."

President Mattel glared at his opposite number. He knew dam well that such a colonisation advantage would certainly see China, who had been catching up fast anyway, overtake the United States of America as the most powerful human nation state, and allow it to secure an unbeatable lead for the future. He couldn't allow this to happen, but he also couldn't allow the Systems Alliance to fail.

The American President decided to make a last role of the dice. "This is completely unacceptable to the people of the United States. However," he paused and saw that President Yang was giving him a cool gaze, but he was still listening. "The United States could see its way to agreeing that the People's Republic of China would always have two more class one garden world colonies than any country OTHER than the United States. The USA shall in turn have one more class one garden world colony than any other state apart from China."

President Mattel let is genuine feelings slip through his political mask, trying to make President Yang see that this 3:2:1 ratio of 'shirt sleeve' worlds was the best deal he was going to get. That it was this, or that there would be no human united front as they explored the stars, and their dangers.

President Yang studied him for a long time before leaning forward and holding out his hand in the flickering fire light. "Agreed."

* * *

 ** _Codex Entry: Humans – Pre Mass Effect Colonisation – Overview_**

 _(Citadel Codex, First Human SPECTRE Collector's Edition, 2183)_

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 _While Sol, the home system of the humans, only has a single class one garden world, it contains no less than FOUR class two garden worlds. This amazing abundance of habitable planets within viable range of a Slower Than Light (rocket propulsion based) space programme, has been theorised to be the major force behind the speed of human expansion._

 _Unlike other races, humans were able to colonise semi-habitable worlds with the same technology that took them into orbit of their homeworld. This gave them a significant pre-existing space based population, industry and experience by the time that their first mass effect FTL vessel was constructed. This boost allowed human expansion from Sol to occur at what the citadel species consider to be a breakneck pace._

 _In addition to their class one homeworld of Earth, humans have in their home system the class two garden worlds of Mars, Europa, Enceladus and Titan. Though the latter three are moons of Sol's two gas giants, limiting the total population that they can support and requiring additional resources to maintain human standard gravity, these staging posts allowed the development of Sol System to proceed at incredible speed._

 _While Jupiter's intense radiation prevents it from being easily mined for helium3, having two class 2 garden worlds in orbit of Saturn made exploitation of its He3 resources much easier than any other known species first attempts. Providing cheap, abundant fuel for human planetside and shipborne reactors in record breaking time, and with minimal initial resources, caused the explosion of interplanetary colonisation, industry and commerce that allowed Sol to claim the title of the most developed STL system on record. A title it still holds to this day._

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 ** _Codex Entry: Humans – Pre Mass Effect Colonisation – The Inner System_**

 _(Citadel Codex, First Human SPECTRE Collector's Edition, 2183)_

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 _Prior to the discovery of the Charon relay Humans had no central authority for their species. As such their early in system colonisation was carried out by individual nation states. The first two planets of Sol system, Mercury and Venus, are suitable only for scientific research stations._

 _Luna, the moon of Earth, Sol's third planet and the human homeworld, was colonised by multiple nation states; as was the fourth and most Earth like planet in Sol System, Mars. Known colloquially as the red planet and named after one of early humanities gods of war, this was the planet where the humans discovered their Prothean ruins._

 _The European Union's Lowell City was the first colony on Mars, but within a decade it had been joined by American and Chinese colonies. Other nation states would start their own colonies on Mars in the coming years and the intense competition between these factions drove the rapid exploration of the surface. Each nation hoping to discover and secure resources vital to these early colonies and their parent nation states industries._

 _It is theorised that had this competition not occurred, the ruins could have lain undiscovered for decades. As the only option for several of the smaller nations of Earth to colonise, due to the difficulty in colonising the outer system, colonisation by less powerful nation states continued even after the discovery of the Prothean ruins. Meaning that today 15.2 million people call Mars home._

 _Between Sol's rocky inner planets and the outer gas and ice giants lies a substantial asteroid belt. The four dwarf planets present in this belt were colonised by the most powerful nations of Earth at the start of humanities exploration. Ceres, Vesta, Pallas and Hygia were colonised by the United States of America, the European Union, the Russian Federation and the Peoples Republic of China respectively. From these bases the exploitation of the belt has fed the human industrial machine a vast array and volume of resources, fuelling their expansion both before and after First Contact._

* * *

 ** _Codex Entry: Garden Worlds_**

 _(Citadel Codex, First Human SPECTRE Collector's Edition, 2183)_

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 _Garden worlds come in two classes. A class 1 garden world is one that one of the Citadel species can live on without technical assistance, all species home worlds fall into this category, as do their primary colonies. Garden worlds do not need to be planets, if a moon is capable of meeting these requirements it is still classed as a garden world. Informally these are known as shirt sleeve worlds, as all the protection colonists need is a shirt._

 _A class 2 garden world is one that has an atmosphere, water, radiation protection and is a viable candidate for terraforming to turn into a class 1 garden world. Giving the potential for Citadel species to one day live there without technical assistance._

 _Supporting a substantial population with limited technical assistance and currently undergoing long term terraforming, Mars is a primary example of a class 2 garden world. Informally these are known as dome worlds, as the worlds are habitable enough for the colony to be made up of complexes of huge domes as the terraforming process begins to slowly take effect._

 _All other astronomical bodies fall into the third class. Technologically dependent colonies. These worlds are completely incapable of supporting life without everything from atmosphere to radiation protection being provided by technology._

 _These worlds are completely unsuitable for terraforming and will never support populations without sealed habitats providing all of their needs. Luna (Earth's moon) is a primary example of this type of world. Informally these are known as station colonies, as even if they are on the surface of moons or uninhabitable planets, they must provide everything that a space station does for its population._

* * *

 **Timeline changes so far**

 _First colony on mars: 27 years earlier than canon_

 _Discovery of Prothean ruins: 64 years earlier than canon_

 _Founding of the Systems Alliance (council of nations version): 63 years earlier than canon_


	2. Chapter 2

_Standard disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect, nor any other content that you recognise. Some characters and systems are original creations. I am receiving no money for my work._

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 _My thanks to HTM for sorting through my spelling and grammar._

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 **Utopia System – Exodus Cluster**

 **2101.05.18**

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Commodore Grissom stared at the display in the CIC of his Voyager class exploration cruiser, _SSV Endeavour._ When he had commanded the first Endeavour, the re-christened Prothean scout ship, through the Charon relay 15 years before, all of the crew had been completely terrified, himself included. It had been a wonderful first act for the Systems Alliance, leading humanity out of its home system and home cluster, showing the benefits that awaited all the member states as humanity finally spread its wings.

The Commodore frowned as he thought about the two deactivated relays that they had found in the Arcturus system, waiting silently. Now they were going to do it again. Only this time he wasn't just leading humanity out of their home system, or even their home cluster; this time he was leading them out of their home sector.

The Prothean maps recovered from Mars had explained the two types of relays. The secondary relays had a much shorter range, but they would connect to any other mass relay in that range. The primary relays only connected to one other primary relay, but they could send a ship far farther than the secondary relays could. Together they formed the sector-like structure of the mass relay network, with two primary relays, like the inactive ones in Arcturus, linking the primary system in a sector to two other sectors's primary systems.

Meanwhile, the secondary relays connected all the clusters in that sector together. Here, in what the Systems Alliance had termed Home sector, the secondary relays in the Local Cluster, the Horse Head Nebula, the Exodus Cluster, the Petra Nebula, and the Arcturus Stream, ensured that the clusters were all connected to the primary cluster in the Arcturus Stream and at least one of their fellow clusters.

The secondary relays in the most far flung clusters of a sector had a large advantage though. They were generally just close enough to connect with a secondary relay in a neighbouring sector.

As a military officer, Commodore Grissom could see the benefits that the Protheans had had in mind. The primary relays offered safe, secure, and amazingly fast long-distance travel from sector to sector. But should they become damaged, or if the systems they were in fell to an enemy force, it was still possible to enter the sector by these back-door routes formed by the secondary relay branches. It would be terribly slow and inefficient, but losing a primary relay system wouldn't be the deathblow for the sector.

Apparently the Prothean military had had a significant input on the relay networks's design, either that or their politicians and scientists were very different to Alliance ones. The Commodore snorted to himself as he remembered the civilians, politicians, and scientists alike, clamouring for the activation of one of the primary relays in Arcturus. He had almost wanted to facepalm in despair.

Yes, it would have opened the new 'Expansion' sector centred on Hades Gamma to immediate and efficient exploration, exploitation, and colonisation. But it would have also given any hostile force waiting there a direct mass relay connection into the primary system of Home Sector. From Arcturus, they would be able to strike all the Alliance systems whenever they wanted, rather than having to fight through multiple systems and a single avenue of approach.

Thankfully, enough of the world leaders had backed the military's call for caution in the Systems Alliance Executive Council, and now they were exploring the proper way, the cautious way. Home sector was connected to two others via the Zodiac Group–Arcturus Stream and Arcturus Stream–Hades Gamma primary relay links, but it was also connected to both of those, and a third sector, by secondary relay links in its outlying clusters.

The Horse Head Nebula secondary relay could link into the Zodiac Group sectors secondary relay network, the Exodus Cluster linked into the Hades Gamma sector and the Petra Nebula linked into the Grand Nebula sector. The Hades Gamma sector had been chosen for humanity to explore next, due mainly to its primary relay link to Arcturus, and the fact that it was in the opposite direction from the system that the retrieved maps designated the Prothean capital.

That was something Commodore Grissom himself had lobbied hard for, using his fame as the first human to go through the Charon relay to its maximum effect. The maps retrieved from the Mars ruins only contained information on what the Protheans had designated the local super sector, but they did indicate that the Prothean capital, the Imperial Fortress, was to the galactic west.

Anyone else who had discovered Prothean ruins in the last 50,000 years would have undoubtedly headed straight for it, and the military had been very forceful in explaining how bad an idea it would be to meet them when humans were so new to mass effect technology. That was, ironically, one of the better case scenarios.

The more pessimistic scenarios included the idea that some shattered remnant of Prothean society still endured out there, somewhere in the galaxy. If it did, then their capital was a prime candidate for its location. Even a shattered remnant would be a completely overwhelming foe for the Alliance navy, a navy that had only just learned how to put an FTL warship together.

Should these hypothetical Prothean remnants, or other aliens at the Imperial Fortress, object to humanity using their mass relay network, humans could soon find themselves blockaded, subjugated, or exterminated. There would be little the fledgling navy could do about it at this point. So, the Hades Gamma area to the galactic east, away from the Imperial Fortress, was chosen as the next sector for human expansion.

Commodore Grissom was jarred from his thoughts by the reports of Endeavour's crew as the mission reached its climax.

"The Utopia relay has acknowledged our instructions and is sending the activation signal to the Han relay." The Endeavour's science officer breathed a sigh of relief as the ancient relay received new telemetry following its activation signal. "Return ping received. The Han relay is confirming itself as activated and a viable destination."

"Conformation of successful activation of the Han system relay, providing access to the Gemini Sigma cluster, is logged and reported to the Admiralty and Utopia system control," Endeavour's communications officer reported. "The Governor of Eden Prime is reporting that the thoughts of Eden Prime, the Utopia system and the entire Exodus Cluster go with us."

"Beginning approach run on the relay now," Endeavour's helmsman reported upon receiving the command to begin the transit from the CIC. "Sending mass data, relay has accepted. Transiting the relay in 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1."

Though the internal dampeners kept everyone from feeling it, Endeavour was launched across interstellar space at phenomenal speeds, before slamming back to its original cruising speed on arrival. "Helm: move us away from the relay slowly. Navigation: confirm our position. Tactical: report," Commodore Grissom issued orders with a calm that gave confidence to every member of his crew.

"Helm reporting, drift just under 32,000 km, moving away from the relay at 50% of normal cruising speed. Heading is towards the planet provisionally identified as Patatanlis."

"Navigation reporting, Planet identification as Patatanlis confirmed. Location confirmed as Han system, Gemini Sigma cluster."

"Tactical reporting, no active artificial heat signatures detected. Threat board is currently clear, launching probes to expand sensor coverage."

Commodore Grissom nodded as the reports flooded in. "Good work everyone, we did it!" He allowed the cheering to continue for a few moments before bringing the crew back to their jobs. "Settle down, just because we don't detect any threats doesn't mean there aren't any. Stay sharp. Not to mention this is an exploration cruiser and I think our science crew might start clawing through the bulkheads if we keep them from their surveying much longer."

Good natured laughter rang around the CIC. Systems Alliance exploration cruisers were heavy cruiser hulls that had traded all of their torpedo launchers, a quarter of their guardian arrays, and a full third of the length of their main gun so that they could carry a truly impressive set of science and communication suites. The links connecting the CIC to these science labs were already filling with data as the chief survey officer commed the CIC.

"Commodore."

Commodore Grissom returned the salute of Lt. Commander Kovind. "Commander, what is the communications analysis suite picking up?"

"Nothing artificial in this system Commodore," the military scientist replied. "We would agree with tactical's analysis that this system is uninhabited. We're also not picking up any transmissions from the surrounding systems, though as you know even the best equipment is far more inaccurate at detecting artificial signals across interstellar space."

"All the interference from natural sources makes it a guessing game at best without years of background data to compare against. Never the less, at first glance the Prothean maps showing this cluster to be uninhabited by any native species appear to be correct. There is also no evidence of the Protheans themselves so far, which should help you to sleep more soundly tonight sir."

"Thank you Commander, keep at it," Commodore Grissom acknowledged the report, and the gentle teasing from his chief science officer, before closing the channel and addressing the CIC crew. "Well, it looks like we might actually have caught a break. Begin planning the survey of this system and remember we are not doing a full analysis. Our mission is to survey for spacefaring life that may pose a threat to the Systems Alliance, we only have 2 weeks to complete this task across the entire cluster before activating the secondary relay in Hades Gamma and moving on"

"We have a target of having the whole sector surveyed for spacefaring life by the end of next month, and I do not intend to go down in history as the crew that delayed the Arcturus-Hades Gamma primary relay activation because we were all resting on our laurels. Let's get to it!"

Inspired by the confidence and drive of their commanding officer, the crew of the _SSV Endeavour_ jumped into action and began plotting a thorough and efficient path through the system for the exploration cruiser. One and a half months later, the first primary relay pair in Systems Alliance space was activated. On time.

* * *

 **Pax System – Horse Head Nebula**

 **2110.04.06**

* * *

Admiral Grissom stared at the display in the CIC of Endeavour, as if he could change it by sheer force of will. This time he had been unable to sway the public. It had only been 9 years since he last led his crew through an uncharted relay, but already all the habitable worlds in the Expansion sector centered on Hades Gamma now supported colonies.

Granted, these were small colonies with centuries of growth ahead before the planets and moons supporting them could even come close to the definition of crowded, but the more important factor was that there were no unclaimed garden worlds remaining in Expansion sector

With Home sector and Expansion sector fully colonised, the Alliance member nations that had so far not received a colonisation permit for a shirt sleeve world were pushing for a third sector to be scouted and opened for colonisation. This time, the Systems Alliance had decided to colonise the sector based around the Zodiac Group cluster, a sector that was to the galactic west, towards the Imperial Fortress.

The Admiral sent a satisfied glance at the frigate wolf pack accompanying _SSV Endeavour_ this time, at least he had been able to secure that. The concession that the SA would scout and colonise a single cluster before scouting the next one for colonisation had also been hard won. It would be slower than the method of exploration that had been used for Hades Gamma, scouting the entire sector first before opening it all up to colonisation at the same time.

The Executive Council had agreed, if only to silence those within the navy's ranks that were still very worried about expanding towards the Imperial Fortress, however far away it might be.

The Admiralty wanted the navy to secure the cluster connecting to Home Sector before moving out into the rest of the new sector, announcing humanity's presence to anyone who may be there.

As the Alliance pushed further and further from Sol the chances of meeting an alien race increased proportionally, Prothean remnant or not. If this time was _the_ time, if the exploration cruisers found aliens and they proved hostile, then the admiralty wanted a chain of systems that the navy could fortify and fall back along as fleet intelligence and fleet R&D studied the new enemy.

Admiral Grissom's eyes were drawn to another part of the display of the Pax system and they hardened in fury even as Endeavour and her escorts prepared to leave. There was Noveria, a white/blue marble on the display and one of the three dome worlds that had been given to the corporations of the Alliance. The Admiral felt his blood boil as he thought of the three entire worlds controlled by greedy businesses with no planetary government to keep them in check.

Granted, Noveria, Xawin, and Amaranthine would have caused tension in the Alliance if they had been colonised by nation states, they would have upset the delicate ratio of member states colonisation permits, but there had to have been a better way to solve the issue. Even if the Alliance had stepped in and colonised the worlds directly as they had with Proteus due to its unique challenges, it would still have been better than this.

Admiral Grissom was shocked out of his musings by the crew reporting the progress of their mission. "The Pax relay has acknowledged our instructions and is sending the activation signal to the Theta relay." The Endeavour's science officer breathed a sigh of relief as the ancient relay received new telemetry following its activation signal. "Return ping received. The Theta relay is confirming itself as activated and a viable destination."

"Conformation of successful activation of the Theta system relay, providing access to the Centauri Veil cluster, is logged and reported to the Admiralty and Pax system control. Noveria orbital control also acknowledges receipt of transmission," Endeavour's communications officer reported. "Our frigate escort has formed up with us and all ships are signalling that they are ready to proceed on Endeavour actuals order."

Admiral Grissom confirmed the order and the small patrol formation began moving.

"Beginning approach run on the relay now, sending mass data, relay has accepted. Transiting the relay in 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1."

Once more _Endeavour_ was launched across interstellar space at phenomenal speeds before slamming back to its original cruising speed. This time the frigates accompanied it in its headlong rush across the stars and emerged in perfect formation, a testament to the skill of their helmsmen. The crew began reporting status as soon as _Endeavour_ and her escorts cleared the relay.

"Helm reporting, drift just under 28,000 km, all escorts present and accounted for. Fleet is moving away from the relay at 50% of normal cruising speed and is maintaining position at the system limit until further orders are issued."

"Navigation reporting, location is confirmed as the Theta system, Centauri Veil cluster."

"Tactical reporting, no active artificial heat signatures detected. Threat board is currently clear, evaluation confirmed by our escorts. Launching probes and expanding formation to expand sensor coverage."

Filled with pride at his crew's performance, the Admiral's tones were still harsh as he brought their attention back to their stations. "Stay sharp people, I don't intend to assume all is well until we have surveyed this system thoroughly, we won't be caught with our trousers down if I have anything to say about it. Plot a thorough investigation of this system, leave no stone unturned."

The crew jumped to attention and carried out their duties with laser-like focus. If their Admiral had a bad feeling about this, they were going to trust his instincts.

* * *

 **Zodiac System – Zodiac Group**

 **2112.09.24**

* * *

It was delta shift aboard the Voyager class exploration cruiser _SSV Voyager._ As the name suggested, she was the first of the exploration cruisers and she was now beginning to show her age. Humanity's increasing understanding of the mass effect and Prothean technology rendered her increasingly obsolete with each passing year, which was why she had been left here in the Zodiac system while the main survey ships scouted the rest of the Zodiac Group cluster.

The reason was simple, as expected there were two primary relays in this system, one leading to Arcturus and the other off the edge of the retrieved Prothean supercluster maps, to the galactic south west. The relay to Arcturus was dark and dormant. The second primary relay however, was active.

A heated debate had ensued as to why the relay was active and yet the system completely silent. It was true that there were no garden worlds present in this system, but there were plenty of mining candidates and the Anglo-American mining company was already salivating over the publicly available surveys. Reports had been sent back to the Admiralty, who were now deciding what force to garrison the system with.

 _SSV Galaxy,_ primary exploration cruiser and flagship of the survey fleet had left to survey the rest of the cluster after they had confirmed the system to be dead. _Voyager_ had been left with the eight frigate escorts to compare the two primary and one secondary mass relays present in the system. Their mission was to try and find out why one had been active but the other two dormant, until their arrival.

Lieutenant Bahnini sighed and looked at the unchanging CIC display again. The frigates were in three distinct groups, a wolfpack led by _SSV Bunker Hill_ was guarding the active primary relay, _SSV Trafalgar_ and _SSV Hastings_ were patrolling the inner system, and _Voyager_ herself was stationary with her two escorts by the dormant primary relay that formed the Zodiac end of the Zodiac Group-Arcturus Stream primary relay connection.

Nothing was happening on board, except that _Voyager's_ aging science computer suite was running simulations of that day's scans, preparing the data for review in the 'morning' by the alpha shift. Being the officer of the watch for beta or delta shift was a great way to make yourself stand out when it was time for promotions, but all the senior officers and all of the scientists worked on alpha shift.

While there was always the possibility of an emergency, or indeed an attack – enemies didn't wait to see if it was 'daytime' before attacking after all – if something was going to happen it tended to happen on the alpha shift. When the senior officers were at their posts and the ship was the most active, which tended to make the other shifts very dull.

The comms array lighting up and making him jump out of his skin made him think this was going to be very different. "Holy Shit! Contacts, multiple contacts, I count four cruisers. Wait, another four cruisers? Who the fuck sends a cru-"

Lt. Bahnini leapt into action as the transmission cut off. "Action stations! Helm: get us moving! We're a sitting target! Tactical: bring all weapons online. Comms: alert the fleet that we have possible hostile contacts, then find out who that was and get them back on the line."

"Action stations, action stations, set condition one throughout the ship. Action stations, action stations set condition one throughout the ship," the alert claxon screamed as one of the junior comms officers called _Voyager_ to battle stations, the computer displays became outlined in red as the strips of light set around hatches and along bulkheads changed from white to red and began to flash.

"Comms won't be able to raise them," Tactical spoke up in a mild panic as the communications officer immediately began contacting the other ships. "That was _Bunker Hill_ , she was the lead frigate of the wolfpack monitoring the active primary relay. We've lost all telemetry from her and the rest of the wolfpack."

There was silence across the CIC for a moment before Tactical continued with their report. "The last readout from _Bunker Hill's_ sensor telemetry indicated eight unknown cruiser class contacts and one heavy cruiser contact."

"Comms: check the status of _Trafalgar_ _._ Tactical: do we have any other relevant data from _Bunker Hill's_ telemetry?" Lt. Bahnini breathed a sigh of relief as Captain Michetti raced into the CIC, still pulling her uniform jacket on.

"I have the deck. Watch, report." The captain was studying the CIC display intently as Commander Jackson ran in behind her, both looked to the officer of the watch to get them up to speed with the situation and the actions _Voyager_ had taken as fast as possible.

" _SSV Bunker Hill_ reported four unknown cruiser class contacts and then an additional four before ceasing transmission. Sensor telemetry also suggests the presence of a heavy cruiser class contact. _Voyager_ is underway at battle speed to present a minimal target, _SSV Tuyuti_ and _SSV Avay_ are in formation with us. _SSV Trafalgar_ and _SSV Hastings_ are at action stations and are returning from the inner system at flank speed, at this time I believe _Bunker Hill_ and her wolfpack to have been destroyed by ships coming through the active primary relay ma'am."

The officer wiped his brow. "The unknown contacts would have had to sail right passed us or _Trafalgar's_ patrol to surprise _Bunker Hill_ from in system." The captain absorbed the information and Lt. Bahnin breathed a sigh of relief as Commander Jackson gripped his shoulder – in the American style of well done – before relieving him of his place at the CIC table. He quickly moved down to the place usually occupied by the First Lieutenant as he, and all of alpha shift apart from the CO and XO, had gone to damage control and other battle stations rather than risk a shift changeover in a combat situation.

Captain Michetti looked at the CIC telemetry of the system. The unknown contacts were clearly present, but little data was shown as they were only on long range sensors and there was no stored profile information on them. They appeared to be splitting up, one group of cruisers was turning towards the _Trafalgar's_ patrol whilst the other group had formed up with the heavy cruiser and was heading straight for them.

Outwardly she portrayed absolute calm to her crew, the unshakable captain who would study the data and make the call. Commander Jackson however, caught her eyes and she could see the question he wanted to ask. It was the same as the one she was asking herself as she studied the CIC plot. _Voyager_ and her escorts were outnumbered, outgunned and out of position. What the hell were they going to do now?

* * *

 _ **Codex Entry: Humans – Pre Mass Effect Colonisation – The Gas Giants**_

 _(Citadel Codex, First Human SPECTRE Collector's Edition, 2183)_

* * *

 _Sol system has two gas giants. The largest of the two is known as Jupiter and it is one of the largest gas giants in Citadel Space, massing more than two and a half times the mass of all the other planets in Sol combined. The harsh radiation produced by such a large gas giant has made significant development of both it and its moons incredibly difficult, except for two_ _._ _Europa and Calisto._

 _Of the two, Europa was chosen as the first planet to be colonised in what was intended to become a mini solar system, with additional colonies planned to follow first on Calisto, then later on Ganymede and Io._

 _Europa is a water world with a huge ocean, kept liquid by the heat generated from the constant tidal flexing on Europa's mantle and core from Jupiter's immense gravity. The surface of Europa is a crust of water ice where the worldwide ocean meets the freezing conditions of space. Europa's atmosphere is almost non-existent, but the thin atmosphere that does exist – while being useless for heat retention – is made primarily of oxygen. This was a huge boon for early colonies as they were able to simply harvest the gaseous oxygen directly from the atmosphere rather than creating it from cracking water or another oxide compound present on their colony world._

 _Europa was colonised by the United States of America as their stepping stone to exploration and exploitation of the outer system. The thick ice sheet gave the colonists the all-important radiation protection, while the liquid ocean provided heat conditions that are the closest to Earth of any location in Sol system_ _._ _Colonies on all other worlds in Sol require either massive heating or cooling systems to bring their temperature into the human habitable range. On Europa, the ocean does 90% of that work for the colonists._

 _Such highly favourable conditions caused the colony to expand at a rapid rate. Initially. Unfortunately for Europa, Jupiter's intense radiation meant that any he3 operation there was doomed unless it was massively subsidised by a government. When the Systems Alliance was founded, the political exclusivity of the outer colonies – the fact that they were their parent nations, and only their parent nations – stepping stones to the outer system disappeared._

 _No longer limited to Europa as their only refuel and resupply point when exploring and exploiting the outer system, American ships quickly made the decision to refuel at Saturn instead. The approach was a lot easier and safer, less radiation protection was required on their ships, and the He3 was cheaper. The US government would end its subsidy of the Jupiter He3 mining corporation the same year that the Alliance was founded. The JMC didn't even attempt to continue trading without the subsidy, knowing it was impossible. they went into voluntary administration as soon as the subsidy was withdrawn._

 _Europa was left with almost no natural resources, the only resource it had to trade was water. Other resources had been intended to be extracted from the other three moons as the mini solar system was constructed. But those colonies had not been founded before the discovery of the Prothean ruins on Mars, and now there were better colonisation prospects outside Sol system. Water, despite being extremely valuable, was cheaper for ships and colonies to buy from the ice deposits on other moons in the outer system, rather than fight Jupiter's gravity well and radiation belts in and out to Europa, and then go on to Saturn to refuel. By all reasonable measures Europa's colony should have failed_ _._ _But it didn't_ _._ _Due entirely to the human preoccupation with romance._

 _Europa had already captured humanity's imagination, millions of people clinging to the underside of the water worlds ice sheet_ _,_ _inverted skyscrapers pouring light into Europa's giant ocean. Glowing stalactites thrusting into the deepest and most mysterious ocean in the system, watched over by the king of the gods. Europa continued to thrive despite the collapse of the JMC and today nearly 2.5 million people call Europa home._

 _Saturn is the most impressive of Sol's outer planets due to its magnificent rings. The two class 2 garden moons were colonised by the Russian Federation (Enceladus) and the Peoples Republic of China (Titan). These two worlds would become the beating heart of the early human economy, allowing the quick and easy development of Saturn's Helium 3 mining infrastructure and providing perfect launch pads for the exploration and exploitation of the outer system. With the founding of the Systems Alliance these planets were opened to all traders and trade boomed throughout the outer system._

 _Enceladus is in the process of being terraformed, thickening the atmosphere trapping both the heat from Saturn's tidal flexing and the water from its cryovolcanoes. The colony here is the one that supplies Saturn's He3 mining infrastructure and provides the docking, repair, resupply and trading services to Sol's shipping lanes, supporting its 685,461 inhabitants. Its sister colony of Titan has a very different purpose._

 _The colony of Titan is an amazing place made, possible by its almost unique feature among the entirety of Sol system. It has a significant atmosphere._

 _In the entire Sol System, only 3 terrestrial bodies have atmospheres worthy of the name. Venus, Earth and Titan have significant atmospheres (made up of carbon dioxide, nitrogen/oxygen, and nitrogen respectively.) Mars also has a very tenuous atmosphere, but as it only creates a surface pressure of 0.6-0.9 kPa compared to 101 kPa of atmospheric pressure for Earth, the next thinnest, it is traditionally omitted from the list._

 _Despite its thick atmosphere, Titan is very cold. Its surface temperature is -179.2 degrees Celsius, giving it oceans, rivers and lakes of methane instead of water. Indeed, Titan's surface and weather is very like that of Earth, it simply rains liquid methane instead of liquid water. The seas of hydrocarbons at its poles are a major resource, providing the basic building blocks for Titan's plastic factories. The cold and low gravity make industry in general much more efficient, and the mining of Saturn's smaller moons provides the materials for the outer system industrial juggernaut. Titan's massive industry pours out goods and construction material much cheaper than hauling finished products all the way from Earth, even with mass effect drives, but its extreme cold has another benefit: Titan is a computing powerhouse._

 _Despite space being so cold, removing heat is actually very difficult. With no atmosphere to remove it, ships and stations have to radiate heat, which is a very slow and inefficient process. Titan is very cold, has a thick atmosphere making human working conditions a lot easier, has almost no oxygen in its atmosphere making fires very difficult to start, and has radiation protection._

 _All of this has combined to make the moon a massive cooling system for the humans' most powerful supercomputers. The Landauer limit, which governs the efficiency of non-quantum computers, is directly related to temperature. Halving the temperature doubles computing capacity for the same amount of energy, meaning that on Titan, a gigahertz processor can run on only 1 trillionth of a watt. As a result, massive computer facilities sprawl over Titan's surface, churning through computer modelling for all sectors of the Systems Alliance economy and military and scientific research industries._

 _It is also rumored that amongst these hundreds of facilities, and truly biblical amount of computational power, is hidden a secret – and highly illegal – artificial intelligence development program. However multiple Citadel Council investigations, the most recent led by SPECTRE Tela Vasir, have failed to find any evidence to support these accusations._

* * *

 _ **Codex Entry: Humans – Pre Mass Effect Colonisation – The Ice Giants**_

 _(Citadel Codex, First Human SPECTRE Collector's Edition, 2183)_

* * *

 _The last two planets of Sol system are both ice giants. Similar in appearance and behaviour to gas giants, the main difference between them and ice giants is in composition, with gas giants being over 90% hydrogen and helium by mass while ice giants have a makeup of less than 90% hydrogen and helium by mass with the rest made up of other elements._

 _Sol's ice giants are only 20% hydrogen and helium by mass, the remaining 80% is made up of many other elements including vast amounts of water, ammonia, oxygen, carbon, nitrogen and sulphur. Thankfully for all known species, most of these elements are locked in a liquid mantle while the thick atmosphere of hydrogen, helium and methane is perfect for helium3 mining. Uranus and Neptune have seen very limited overall development compared to Saturn due to the lack of garden worlds among their moons. Their colonies are focused almost exclusively on mining, or are inhabited by groups wishing their own colony for social or religious reasons._

 _Founded three years after the discovery of the Prothean ruins, Miranda was colonised by the European Union as it is the main source of water in Uranus's orbit. The founding of the Systems Alliance while the colonists were still on route from the inner system removed the political requirements for the colony as a base for EU ships, which many believed would cause the colony to fail. Instead, it thrived, defying all expectations by taking advantage of Uranus's shallower gravity well and weaker radiation to set up a large He3 mining operation._

 _At first Miranda was just a refuelling stop for science ships exploring the far outer reaches of Sol System, but its importance increased as humanity left its home system and Saturn was often on the wrong side of Sol for departing ships. Uranus finally overtook Saturn in total He3 extraction in 2176 CE during the economic boom that followed the Humans becoming a Citadel Associate Race. To this day Uranus remains the largest producer of Helium3 in Alliance space and has consistently remained one of the top 10 He3 producer's galaxy wide._

 _Triton is the largest moon of Neptune, the eighth and final planet of Sol system. Containing the majority if the ice (and 99.5% of the mass) in Neptune orbit, Triton holds a special place in the hearts of humans. Triton was the first colony founded by the SA as a purely Alliance colony, and it was the last to be colonised before humanity started to produce mass effect ships._

 _This alpha and omega position, marking the end of humanity's imprisonment in Sol and the start of their exploration as a unified species, makes Triton an important symbol in human culture. As the only colony of Neptune, Triton is a major Alliance fleet base, allowing the warships of the SA entering and leaving Sol to re-fuel out of sight of Sol's civilian population. Though this has limited Neptune's He3 mining development, the operational security that this isolation gives the Alliance fleet and covert operations forces is considered well worth the price._

 _The jewel in the crown of Triton is Amon Din Station. Named after the first in a series of relay beacons that used fire atop mountains to allow the fictional kingdom of Gondor to call for aid in times of strife, this huge complex on Triton's surface is the heart of the humans FTL comm buoy network. A network that – uniquely for Citadel species – predates first contact. Although the majority of it was produced after the First Contact War, the core of the network was in place and functioning when the turians invaded Shanxi and Zapala, which greatly increased the human's ability to fight that war._

 _Though upgraded to Citadel standards and integrated with the Citadel's beacon network, the buoys in Alliance space are still produced and maintained independently of the Citadel, and the network is still controlled from Amon Din Station. A situation that many of the other Citadel speices view as paranoid, but one that the humans have outright refused to change._

 _All FTL messages and extranet sites from outside human space are routed directly to Amon Din Station and enter the human FTL network there. Every FTL message that enters or leaves Sol system passes through Amon Din_ _,_ _and without it the fastest way to contact anyone is to take one of the fleet of courier boats that the Alliance still maintains for ultra-secure communications, or for emergencies that might physically or electronically disable the comm network._

 _The turians and asari consider the courier boat fleet to be even more paranoid and backward than maintaining an independent – if integrated – comm buoy network. The Salarian Union however, put it's first courier boat into production less than a year after they first encountered the Alliance's courier boat fleet in action in the First Contact War._

 _The salarians now maintain a courier boat fleet significantly larger than that of the humans._

* * *

 **Timeline changes so far**

 _First colony on mars: 27 years earlier than canon_

 _Discovery of Prothean ruins: 64 years earlier than canon_

 _Founding of the Systems Alliance (council of nations version): 63 years earlier than canon_


	3. Chapter 3

_Standard disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect, nor any other content that you recognise. Some characters and systems are original creations. I am receiving no money for my work._

* * *

 _Unfortunately, HTM has only checked my spelling and grammar in chapters 1+2 and chapter 21 onwards. So, I am afraid chapters 3-20 are subject only to my own spelling and grammar. Sorry for this._

* * *

 **Zodiac System – Zodiac Group**

 **2112.09.24**

* * *

 _SSV Voyager_ and her escorts were hurtling towards the outer gas giant of the Zodiac system at full speed as the five unknown ships gave chase, they were faster than Voyager and would eventually run her down. But the quick reactions of Lieutenant Bahnin, getting underway as soon as the unknowns were sighted, had given the crew of Voyager a head start and some much-needed breathing room. Leaving Lieutenant Bahnin monitoring their course and pursuers, Commander Jackson approached Captain Michetti as she was huddled in the corner of the CIC, speaking privately with Lt. Commander Emerson, the chief engineer.

"…result in the death of every single person aboard this ship Captain!" Jackson rolled his eyes at the chief engineer's usual hyperbole, but Captain Michetti's gaze was laser focused on the bulkhead wall. Refusing to acknowledge him.

"It is not a request Commander. If we do not make it back through that relay, then the first warning that the Alliance will get that there are hostile aliens approaching is when they pour through the relay and into Shanxi orbit. Thousands will die because the fleet and army will be completely unprepared. We MUST warn them, at any cost. This crew swore an oath to sacrifice themselves if necessary in defence of the Systems Alliance, we will not falter when it looks like we might be called upon to perform it. Carry out my orders, Michetti out." The Captain looked as if she wanted to throw her compiece across the CIC.

"Glad to see that even under fire Emerson is as risk adverse as usual." Commander Jackson had tried to joke to relieve the tension a little but the glare Captain Michetti sent his way made him swallow and straighten to attention before his commanding officer.

"Trafalgar and Hastings?" The question was short, clipped and to the point.

"The decryption abilities of the enemy ships remain unknown, as such they have kept their messages short and culturally coded. Both frigates are heading to the inner system gas giant, its moons and its radiation belt should make it horrifically difficult for the pursuing enemy vessels to locate them there if their sensor tech is anything like ours."

"Trafalgar also broadcast the following: peninsula 1810. It is my belief that they are trying to communicate that they will engage in hit and run raids on enemy convoys in this system from their hiding places around the inner gas giant. The peninsula campaign of the Napoleonic wars was famous for its large-scale guerrilla warfare by Spanish partisans against the occupying French forces, keeping them off balance until British forces arrived to help drive out the occupiers." Commander Jackson explained his reasoning as they walked back to the central CIC table.

"That seems to be their best course of action as they are totally cut off from the relay. Status of our pursuers?" The Captain looked over at Lt. Bahnin as well as studying the plot herself.

"The unknown vessels seem to have figured out our plan to slingshot around the gas giant, they are diverging. Two cruisers are following us to stop us turning back, the other two and the heavy cruiser are manoeuvring to cut us off when we emerge from our slingshot." Lt Bahnin reported the changes that had occurred while the two senior officers had been planning.

"Those three ships will have a very limited engagement window, just as you intended Captain. With the speed added from our slingshot manoeuvre they will never be able to catch up and get back into firing range before we hit the relay." Commander Jackson let a little hope enter his voice as he studied the tactical readouts.

Captain Michetti still looked grim. "Yes, but the cruisers following us will get the same speed boost, they will run us down just as we leave the heavy cruiser groups firing range. We will have to make the rest of the run to the relay under fire."

"Still, we will have cut those pursuers by more than half. We have a chance."

The Captain nodded. "We do, but we must not forget that destruction of the enemy, or even escape is not our primary objective. Signal our escorts that they are both to break off and take different trajectories as soon as we exit the slingshot, they need to take advantage of their higher speed and lesser tactical value to try and split the enemy fire and make it to the relay, while the main force focuses on us."

Commander Jackson frowned. "That will badly degrade all ships guardian defences, lacking the interlocking support of the other ships."

"The increased chance of them making it through to warn Shanxi is more than worth it Commander, transmit the orders." Seeing the captain was resolute, Commander Jackson nodded to the coms officer who sent out the orders, then the CIC crew settled into a tense waiting game as Voyager raced towards the gas giant at maximum acceleration.

"Slingshot manoeuvre complete, setting course for secondary relay and Shanxi."

"Tuyuti and Avay are breaking formation, their increasing to their own flank speed and pulling ahead of us."

"Both enemy cruisers confirmed to still be pursuing us, time to intercept unchanged."

"Enemy ships detected ahead, entering firing range in 2 minutes. Both cruisers and the heavy cruiser are accounted for."

The reports came flooding in as Voyager prepared for battle. "Target the port cruiser, confirm firing solutions with Tuyuti and Avay. We need to make every shot count." Captain Michetti glanced over at her XO. "Makes you wish the exploration class didn't trade off all their torpedoes and shorten their main gun to make room for the science and communications labs, doesn't it Commander?"

"We still have a cruisers firepower Captain, we will do you proud." Commander Jackson was confident as _SSV Voyager_ and her escorts finally entered firing range of the enemy vessels.

"Continuous fire, main gun. All starboard guns are to fire as we pass."

"Torpedo launch from our escorts, they are ripple firing the tubes."

"Enemy torpedo launch, multiple launches focusing on our escorts, they are taking evasive action."

"Holy fuck how many torpedoes? Enemy ships have significantly miniaturised torpedo tech, dozens of torpedoes closing at high speed."

The CIC crew watched the display with bated breath as the torpedo launch from the frigates closed in on the enemy cruiser they were targeting, all that could be heard was the constant firing of the main gun, reverberating throughout Voyager as the crew held their breath.

"Port enemy cruiser is gone, redirecting fire to starboard enemy cruiser, guns only as our escorts torpedo banks are depleted."

"Avay is gone! Enemy torpedoes are too small and fast, they overwhelmed her guardian array."

"Tuyuti is through, but her barriers are down, she is reporting significant hull damage."

The tiny human frigate raced passed the hulking unknown ships as Voyager continued to charge straight at them, her forward kinetic barriers flaring with blue lightning as they absorbed hit after hit. Then the largest enemy ship began to turn to starboard, allowing her broadside guns to fire on the fleeing human frigate that was only a few seconds away from escaping them.

"Enemy flagship is turning, she is bringing her broadside guns to bear and targeting ourselves and Tuyuti, spinning Voyager to present a minimal profile to their gunners."

As Voyager span to present her side rather than top profile to the enemy flagship as she raced passed, a new star was briefly born ahead. The sensors operator soon confirmed that it was caused by the death of the brave little Alliance frigate that had so nearly made it through.

"Tuyuti has been destroyed Captain, her mass effect core lost containment."

"Starboard enemy cruiser falling out of formation, her barriers are down and she's showing damage to her hull."

"Kinetic barriers down to 15%, guardian arrays are overheating."

"It doesn't matter! We're through! leaving enemy firing range Captain."

"Damage report." The Captain looked grim, both frigates had been overwhelmed and destroyed by torpedoes smaller and faster than anything the Alliance could produce. Now it was all on Voyager to escape and warn Shanxi.

"Kinetic barriers down to 15%, they are recharging and are estimated to be at 20% by the time pursuing cruisers enter firing range. Minor hull damage across our starboard side, starboard guns 2, 5 and 7 are out of action and there is a hull breach in the science bay, casualties reported." Lieutenant Bhanin was short and to the point.

Voyager shook again as weapons fire impacted her aft barriers. "Enemy cruisers are already in firing range, they must have been hiding their capabilities in the last engagement, kinetic barriers down to 13%"

"Helm, evasive pattern delta 4."

Voyagers course changed abruptly, main drives and manoeuvring thrusters working together to make the exploration cruiser do as good an imitation of a dancing devish as she could. The enemy hit ratio dropped significantly, but so did the Alliance ship's acceleration.

"Evasive action is lowering our speed Captain, time to relay now 30 minutes."

"Enemy cruisers will overhaul us in 10 minutes."

"Kinetic Barriers now at 10%"

As the reports flooded in Commander Jackson fought to keep his face neutral. 30 minutes to the relay, under fire the entire way, with the kinetic barriers down to 10% already was already a hail mary plan. With the pursuing forces able to overhaul them and bring their broadside guns to bear 20 minutes short of safety, it was suicidal. He looked over at the CIC officers, trying to communicate his thanks for the work that all of them had done without destroying morale. They had done their best to escape the unknowns and warn Shanxi. But it seemed that, through no fault of their own, their best was not going to be good enough. The odds against them had been too great.

He looked over to the Captain, to see if she wanted to fight to the end in the mad hope that they might, somehow, beat the odds and survive long enough to make it to the relay. Or if she wanted to destroy Voyagers computers and surrender before they were overhauled and destroyed. Provided the enemy accepted surrenders of course. Regardless, whatever she decided she would have his full support.

Captain Michetti refused to meet his gaze, looking intently at her station in the CIC plot table, she typed a command sequence into the folder she had been working on during their approach to the gas giant. Finally, she lifted her head and looked Commander Jackson dead in the eyes as she activated the shipwide comm system.

"Commander Emerson, execute plan omega. Crew the of _SSV_ _Voyager_ , it has been an honour to serve with you. I only wish I could have brought you home one last….."

Captain Michetti and the entire crew of the _SSV Voyager_ were killed instantly. Under the Captains orders, Commander Emerson had removed all the safeties for the engines and cranked them to their maximum output. Not the maximum speed that the inertial dampeners could take, nor the maximum speed that the engine components could take. But the maximum possible output of the drive core. The inertial dampeners failed, and the crew were exposed to hundreds of gravities of acceleration. Turning all of them into molecule thick paste on the rear bulkheads of Voyagers compartments as the warship leaped forward, burning away from her pursuers at an acceleration they couldn't possibly match if their crews wanted to live. Voyager left their firing range in seconds.

The engines were not designed to run at that speed for any length of time and soon melted down. But the massive increase in acceleration had been enough, not only was Voyager out of the pursuing ships firing range, but the distance she had gained from her pursuers meant that she would stay out of range until she reached the relay. Following the Captain's pre-programmed orders, the auxiliary engines activated correcting Voyagers course as she approached the relay.

Captain Michetti and her crew would never make it home, but the _SSV Voyager_ would. She blew through the Zodiac secondary relay into the Theta system at breakneck speed, before the pursuing unknown cruisers could run her down. The auxiliary engines put her on course for Shanxi as the computer followed the Captain's final pre-programmed order and activated the ship to ship com system, broadcasting in the clear for the entire Theta system to hear.

"Mayday, Mayday, this is _SSV Voyager_ declaring code butterfly. Hostile forces incoming. Mayday, Mayday, this is _SSV Voyager_ declaring code butterfly. Hostile forces incoming."

* * *

 **Lryae System – Lryae Asteria**

 **2112.09.25**

* * *

Admiral Macen Arterius, commanding officer of the Hierarchy Third DMZ Patrol Fleet, stood on the slightly elevated platform that served as the commanding officers designated position in the briefing room of the _HWS Enforcer_. In front of him, on a platform slightly less elevated than his own, stood the other banner officers that he had called aboard his bannership. Banner Captain Nyreen Kuril, responsible for actually commanding the second line dreadnought that served as his banner ship, was joined by Superior Captains Adrien Nyx and Solona Kandros who commanded the fleets wings. Together they all looked at the hologram display below them on the deck of the briefing room displaying the Krogan Demilitarized Zone.

Spinning in the orange of the projector were the four clusters of the DMZ sector and their relay connections. The Aralakh Cluster at the point of the pyramid connected to all of the surrounding clusters via its secondary relay. The Corona Nebula, the Meridian Cloud and the Lryae Asteria each connected to Aralakh and to two of the other clusters, forming the base of the pyramid. The primary relay connection to the Serpent Nebula cluster, and thus the Citadel, was shown terminating in the Lryae system.

Leading away from Lryae was shown a second primary relay connection, terminating in a system labelled only as 8497-281. Various symbols were placed all over the map. The First, Second and Third Hierarchy DMZ Patrol Fleets were shown in their respective clusters, patrolling the abandoned systems that still officially belonged to the Krogan. In the central cluster, the Citadel Council DMZ Enforcement Fleet stood guard over the only inhabited system in the sector, the Krogan home system of Aralakh.

Admiral Arterius mused that it was a testament to how badly scarred the galaxy still was by the Krogan Rebellions that this sector held 5 of the Turian Hierarchy's 35 dreadnoughts. One leading each patrol fleet to make sure the three abandoned krogan clusters in this sector stayed abandoned, and two making up the core of the council enforcement fleet along with the asari and salarian dreadnoughts. More than 1,300 years after the krogan rebellions ended, four council race dreadnoughts still patrolled the skies over Tuchanka.

Admiral Arterius snapped back to the present time as he caught sight of the last turian present. Captain Pallin Sidonis stood at attention below the banner officers, on the deck of the briefing room. "Please summarise your mission to the System 8497-281 Captain." The Admiral ordered, he was well aware of the events that had happened there, but he wished to hear the captains report again to see if any discrepancies would emerge. It was also possible that his fellow banner officers had not read the report before he had summoned them to the briefing room.

"Yes Admiral." Captain Sidonis decided to be as thorough as possible so as to leave his superiors in no possible doubt of his reasons for being in system 8497-281, nor his course of action. "The relay to system 8497-281 was the last primary relay opened by the Citadel Council, it was opened during the first century of the rachni wars, just after the salarians had activated the relays here and mapped the Krogan sector."

"Following the uplifting of the krogan to fight the rachni, the Council decided not to push its luck anymore and instituted the current ban on activating dormant relays unless you know what is at the destination. This left both the second primary relay and the secondary relay present in System 8497-281 dormant."

It appeared that Banner Captain Kuril was unfamiliar with the system, so Macen decided against telling the pedantic Captain to skip the history lesson. "The system itself has several mining prospects, but no garden worlds. The initial surveys of the immediately surrounding systems in the cluster revealed nothing either, so it was left undeveloped during the rachnai wars, and by the krogan afterwards as they were more interested in breeding grounds and battle than the drudgery of mining and exploring."

"Today, the system is patrolled monthly to check that no smugglers have slipped passed the patrol fleets and set up base there to more effectively run weapons and other banned items to Tuchanka. As the relay connects to the Lryae Asteria cluster which is Third Patrol Fleets assigned area, this patrol was made the responsibility of Third Patrol Fleet. As per standard procedure, I transited the relay with my own cruiser and two frigate varrenpacks under my command."

Captain Sidonis's posture became more rigid as he reached forward and changed the display to show a delta shaped ship. "As stated in my report, upon exiting the relay we found ourselves facing a varrenpack of frigates. As you can see from the display they had an unknown profile and they were 157m long." The banner officers nodded, noting the unknown frigates size was comparable to salarian and associate race frigates. Turian, asari and quarian frigates were all considerably larger. "The sensors reported that the frigates had civilian grade mass effect cores, kinetic barriers, armour and weapons. This, combined with their unknown profile and small size led me to believe that they were pirate or smuggler ships. I followed the standing orders regarding the presence of such ships in the krogan DMZ and destroyed them immediately."

"Standing orders actually require that we interrogate the ship before opening fire, in case it has a legitimate cargo and flight plan that has been lost in the bureaucracy." Superior Captain Nyx cut Captain Sidonis off. "While your actions in this case were entirely correct, as there is no legitimate reason for anyone to be in that system, remember to follow orders to the letter in future. The status of the suspect ships will not always be so helpfully determined by their location."

Pallin swallowed at the nods coming from the other banner officers at Captain Nyx's reprimand. Thankfully they were not condemning his decision to open fire without communicating further, so he continued his report. "Upon conducting a full sensor sweep, my patrol discovered that there were four additional enemy frigates and one cruiser present in the system. Unlike its accompanying frigates, the cruiser was towards the larger end of its size class with only quarian, hanar and asari cruisers being larger. I assumed this to be their command ship and pursued it with one of my varrenpacks and my cruiser."

"In the resulting action I lost one frigate, and another was badly damaged and requires dry dock, in comparison the enemy lost two frigates and its cruiser only escaped using a suicidal manoeuvre. I assume it must have been carrying valuable cargo for the smugglers to sacrifice themselves like that. Given their escape through a supposedly dormant relay I assume that it was Prothean artefacts." Captain Sidonis stood straight backed and proud, defending his actions and conclusions.

"Thank you, Captain." Admiral Arterius took command of the meeting once again. "I have dispatched three frigate varrenpacks to join the one left behind by Captain Sidonis. They will join Captain Sidonis's ships in their search of the gas giant's moons for the two smuggler frigates that managed to escape the initial engagement." He paused and adjusted the holographic display to show the secondary relay that was supposed to be dormant.

"The smugglers have activated a dormant relay and it would seem they have discovered a Prothean site on the other side. Captain Sidonis is right, no other cargo would have been worth enough for the crew of that cruiser to sacrifice themselves to ensure its escape from our patrol. I didn't think even lawless criminals would dare to activate a dormant relay, but it seems they have grown overconfident and feel that they can disobey the one law we enforce throughout the entire galaxy. Including in their spirits dammed Terminus Systems. It would seem they need reminding of the power of the Citadel Fleet."

"They must trust their fellow smugglers to give their share of the profits to their families." Superior Captain Kandros noted. "This would support the battle recordings that showed them operating as a unified fighting force, they are more loyal to each other than the standard smuggling outfit. It will make them more difficult to capture or run down."

Admiral Arterius nodded, acknowledging the point. "Indeed, they may try to run in an organised fashion, trusting that at least some of them would escape and be able to take care of all of their families with the profits. This would make it hell to run them all down with limited ships, they will have planned their escape to spread out any pursuing forces as much as possible. As such I intend to take the majority of Third Patrol Fleet and our entire assigned army legion through the relay. We will capture the smuggler base, secure the Prothean site, hunt down and destroy all smuggler ships and secure the newly opened relay before reporting back to the Citadel."

"Admiral, standing orders require that we inform the Citadel if we discover a newly activated relay, and if we move the fleet out of our assigned patrol area. Could you clarify your orders please sir?" The temperature in the room dropped several degrees as Banner Captain Kuril practically accused her commanding officer of the worst crime a turian could commit, disobeying orders.

The Admirals mandibles flared, but he kept his voice rock steady and cold as space. "Standing orders do indeed require that we inform the Citadel, on both counts Banner Captain. However, they make no mention as to WHEN we must inform the Citadel. These smugglers have made barefaced fools of all of us! They have activated a dormant relay, plundered a Prothean dig site and escaped a Hierarchy patrol while loaded with Prothean artefacts! They have done all of that because they managed to sneak passed our patrols here in Lryae, this has been going on under our very mandibles for weeks and WE HAVENT NOTICED!"

Macen Arterius threw his information pad across the room in frustration. "This will be bad enough when we have to admit to it anyway. But if we inform the Citadel about the smugglers, about the relay, before we have captured or destroyed them? Then Third Patrol Fleet will be the disgrace of the entire Hierarchy, we will be told as children's cautionary tales. This is what happens when you are lax in your duty, criminals flourish while you file reports. No, we will take the entire fleet through the relay, deal with the smugglers, and THEN we will inform the Citadel. We will still be held in contempt by the Primarchs and rightly so, we have failed spectacularly to prevent this travesty from occurring, but at least we will have cleared up our mess."

The other banner officers stood straighter under the Admiral's explanation. They had failed in their duty, but they would fix it. They would teach these smugglers the price of their criminal activities before anyone else found out about them. Then they would submit themselves to judgment for their initial failure, but at least they wouldn't have to bear the shame of someone else cleaning up the mess caused by Third Patrol Fleet's mistakes.

* * *

 _Codex Entry: Humans – The Systems Alliance Navy: First Contact War_

 _(Citadel Codex, First Human SPECTRE Collector's Edition, 2183)_

* * *

 **Codex users please be aware that the composition of these formations, and their commanding officers, are BEFORE the major reforms undertaken of the Systems Alliance navy order of battle following the Relay 314 Incident (First Contact War). For the post-reform order of battle of the Systems Alliance navy, please see chapter 24 codex entry.**

 _During the first contact war (2112) The Systems Alliance's understanding of mass effect technology was insufficient to produce disruptor torpedoes small enough to be mounted on strike craft. As such the human's obsession with the carrier had yet to form, and their navy was still a 'big gun' navy like the rest of the galaxy's. This left the humans following the standard ship types of frigate, cruiser, heavy cruiser and dreadnought, though their inclusion of a heavy cruiser in that order of battle was surprising, it was not without precedent in Citadel space._

 _The idea of a heavy cruiser to provide additional firepower – and command facilities – to fleets that did not merit the deployment of a dreadnought is an idea that has not been seen since the fall of the Quarian Federation, the only other galactic navy to have produced such a ship type. The stigma that the heavy cruiser concept faces, with the idea originally being quarian as far as the wider galaxy is concerned, has led to the class being consistently under estimated by opponents. A benefit that humans have been eager to exploit in the annual Citadel war games, leading to several embarrassing Citadel race defeats and massive payouts from betting shops across Council Space._

 _The later development of the fleet and escort carriers with the development of viable strike craft torpedoes, resulted in a major reformation of the Alliance navy's composition and order of battle in the years following the First Contact War. This coincided with minor reforms to its command structure due to the deficiencies in wartime command that the war exposed. The Citadel navies are derisive about the human's pet project, and have built only a few prototype carriers of their own for testing purposes._

 _The most obvious difference in formations between the Alliance navy, pre and post reform, and the other galactic navies is the lack of single cruiser missions that the other galactic navies favour for the least important patrols. Humans instead prefer to field a larger frigate force than other species and send a wolfpack of better endurance frigates instead of the single cruiser. The stealth frigate is the only human warship that ever operates alone._

 _ **FCW Frigate Wolfpack – 4 Ships:**_ _The human term for a frigate varrenpack, these are groups of 4 frigates used for the lowest priority patrols, advance scouting by human fleets, and for torpedo raids and anti-strike craft defence in battle._

 _Contrary to most galactic navy's, humans see the frigate as an offensive 'torpedo boat' in addition to its traditional role as an anti-strike craft and anti-torpedo escort. The CO is the lead ship's captain, a Lieutenant Commander. These formations are the only ones that survived the human's obsession with the carrier and the post First Contact War naval reforms unchanged._

 _ **FCW Cruiser Flight – 4-12 Ships:**_ _Sub-strength cruiser flights were the smallest cruiser formation fielded by the Alliance before the FCW, containing 4 cruisers._

 _At full strength these formations contained 8 cruisers and 4 frigates. They were generally used for low and medium priority patrols and to guard small installations. The CO was the lead ship's captain, a Commander._

 _ **FCW Cruiser Detachment – 16-28 Ships:**_ _At sub strength a cruiser detachment removed one frigate from one of its wolfpacks and replaced it with a heavy cruiser to command the detachment. They then added four additional cruisers. At full strength these formations contained 1 heavy cruiser, 16 cruisers and 11 frigates._

 _Before the First Contact War cruiser detachments were generally used for the highest priority patrols, to guard medium sized installations and to garrison systems with only Dome class garden worlds present. The CO was a Commodore._

 _ **FCW Cruiser Squadron – 32-68 Ships:**_ _At sub strength a cruiser squadron consisted of 4 heavy cruisers, 20 cruisers and 8 frigates. At full strength these formations contained 8 heavy cruisers, 44 cruisers and 16 frigates. Before the First Contact War, cruiser squadrons were generally used for defending the largest installations and as garrison forces for systems with shirt sleeve garden worlds._

 _Cruiser squadrons were also the building blocks of Alliance fleets. The CO was a Commodore with two flag captains in addition to the one on her flagship helping to command the formation. A cruiser squadron under Commodore Lalla Hansa was the first human formation to engage an alien force in open (intended) battle. The encounter is still taught in turian military history classes today._

 _ **FCW Alliance Battle Fleet – 817 Ships:**_ _Formed from 12 cruiser squadrons the Systems Alliance had three battle fleets at the outbreak of the First Contact War (Relay 314 Incident) Alliance doctrine was to have one fleet assigned to protect each sector, most garrisons and patrols in that sector would be formed out of the fleets 12 squadrons._

 _However, the most important locations such as large military shipyards, naval bases and shirt sleeve garden worlds, had their own garrison forces. These forces were not attached to the battle fleets so that the critical locations in a sector would not be left defenceless should the fleet sail out to meet an enemy force in battle. A First Contact War Alliance fleet was composed of 1 dreadnought, 96 heavy cruisers, 528 cruisers and 192 frigates. The CO was an Admiral with two Vice Admirals and one Rear Admiral helping to command the fleet._

* * *

 _Codex Entry: Humans – System Alliance Navy – Flag Officers_

 _(Citadel Codex, First Human SPECTRE Collector's Edition, 2183)_

* * *

 **Codex users please be aware that these ranks and their responsibilities are POST the major reforms undertaken of the Systems Alliance navy command structure following the Relay 314 Incident (First Contact War) in 2112. As such they are the roles that the Alliance uses today, For the pre-reform structure of the Systems Alliance navy please see appendix 6 subsection 4 of this codex.**

 _The Systems Alliance navy is the unified space going force of Humanity. In the Alliance navy officers above the rank of captain are known as officers of flag rank. This is due to the tradition started then the only forms of propulsion available for warships were oars or sails. When they were commanding such forces, officers used flags to communicate their orders to the formation, but in addition they flew their own flag from the lead ship to let the multiple ships they were commanding easily locate them, the command ship, and their orders in the disorientating heat of battle. This tradition is also why the lead ships in Alliance navy formations are known as 'flagships'._

 _Today, the distinction is twofold. The term 'officers of flag' rank is used to describe officers above the rank of captain who are not commanding ships or stations such as senior logistics, intelligence and JAG officers. The term 'flag officer' is used to describe an officer above the rank of captain who is actively commanding groups of warships or an installation with attached warships such as a naval base or shipyard. The five Space Lords of the Admiralty are referred to as flag officers as a matter of courtesy even though they are not commanding an installation or formation._

 _ **Alliance Supreme Commander – Admiral of the Fleet:**_ _The admiral of the fleet is a wartime appointment made by the Prime Minister. When the Alliance is at war it is seen as necessary to have a military supreme commander to allow the orders of the civilian commander in chief to be implemented immediately, rather than having to filter through the Admiralty and the General Staff._

 _Providing a single point of command for the war effort, the admiral of the fleet can only be overruled by the civilian commander in chief (prime minister) and is the only rank superior to that of navy fleet admiral and army field marshal. Due to both the chaos of the Relay 314 Incident (First Contact War) and its relatively short length, at the time of writing for this codex the Systems Alliance has never appointed an Admiral of the Fleet._

 _ **OF10 – Fleet Admiral:**_ _Fleet admirals command the full 1,224 ship strong fleets of the Systems Alliance. When fully assembled and not distributed around the sector in cruiser squadrons, detachments and flights, fleet admirals command the most powerful concentration of military and economic power in human history. They are the equivalent of field marshals._

 _In battle the fleet admiral will focus on the whole fleet and its strategic movement, trusting in the two full admirals who usually command the fleet on its beta and delta shifts to relay his orders to the flag officers in charge of each section of the fleet. In peacetime the fleet admirals are the highest rank of naval officer in the Alliance._

 _There is only one fleet admiral in the flying corps; known as the air chief marshal they are responsible for all flying officers in the Alliance._

 _The First Space Lord is always a fleet admiral._

 _ **OF9 – Admiral:**_ _Admirals are known as full admirals when they need to be differentiated from their rear, vice and fleet colleagues. A full admiral will command the 108 ship Alliance strike group and a full Alliance fleet on its beta and delta shifts while the fleet admiral is off duty. They are the equivalent of full generals._

 _In full fleet engagements each section of an Alliance fleet – left flank, right flank, centre and reserves – will be under the command of an admiral to command it in the thick of battle and allow the fleet admiral to focus on the battle and fleet as a whole. The rank of admiral is the pinnacle of almost any naval career and the dream of many ensigns._

 _There is no corresponding flying corps rank._

 _The Second Space Lord is always an admiral._

 _ **OF8 – Vice Admiral:**_ _In the field vice admirals are found commanding large shipyards, the largest naval defence and logistics bases, and the 56 ship strong cruiser squadrons. In full fleet engagements each section – left flank, right flank, centre and reserves – will be assigned 2 vice admirals to help command it in the thick of battle. They are the equivalent of captain generals._

 _Vice admirals are often found in charge of the navy's most critical R &D projects, to give them the command authority to deal with both civilian bureaucrats and the naval budget and logistics departments. They are also heavily involved in doctrine development and coordinating with the orbital guard and sector guard operating within the area of their naval bases. _

_There is no corresponding flying corps rank._

 _The Third Space Lord is always a vice admiral._

 _ **OF7 – Rear Admiral:**_ _Rear admirals command medium shipyards, the large naval defence and logistics bases, and command the 26 ship strong cruiser detachments. In full fleet engagements each section – left flank, right flank, centre and reserves – will be assigned 4 rear admirals to help command it in the thick of battle. They are the equivalent of lieutenant generals._

 _If on stationary deployment, navy rear admirals are heavily involved in doctrine development and R &D projects and coordinate with the orbital guard and sector guard operating within the area of their naval bases._

 _Flying officers who reach the rank of rear admiral are known as air marshals and this is the highest rank a strike craft specialist can reach without transferring to shipboard duty (with the exception of the air chief marshal). The fleet's air marshal commands the entire fleet's strike craft compliment in space or serve as the commanding officer for all planetary based strike craft squadrons if on shore duty. They, like their pure navy rear admiral counterparts are also heavily involved in doctrine development and R &D projects._

 _The Fourth and Fifth Space Lords are always rear admirals._

 _ **OF6 – Commodore:**_ _Commodores are the lowest flag officer rank. These officers are typically found aboard small shipyards, medium naval defence and logistics bases, and command the 13 ship strong cruiser flights. A frigate wolfpack and an understrength cruiser flight are the only Alliance navy formations that are not commanded by a flag officer, instead being commanded by the most senior officer among the captains. A full-strength cruiser flight will never sail out without a commodore in command. They are the equivalent of brigadier generals._

 _If on stationary deployment, commodores are heavily involved with doctrine development and coordinating with the orbital guard and sector guard operating within the area of their naval bases. They are often the commanders of navy planetside bases. However, the primary role of commodores when not serving in battle fleets is throughout the fleet train, keeping the unglamorous logistics of the Alliance Navy running smoothly._

 _Flying officers who reach the rank of commodore are known as air commodores, they command 2 – 4 strike craft groups and they are the commander air group (CAG) of cruiser squadrons and of the Alliance's fleet carriers (who's air groups they will command in coordination with the fleet's air marshal). They are also heavily involved in doctrine development._

 _Though it rarely receives any recognition, without the fleet train transporting the lifeblood of the fleet the Navy would be nothing more than silent, drifting hulks._

* * *

 **Timeline changes so far**

 _First colony on mars: 27 years earlier than canon_

 _Discovery of Prothean ruins: 64 years earlier than canon_

 _Founding of the Systems Alliance (council of nations version): 63 years earlier than canon_

 _The First Contact War: 45 years earlier than canon_


	4. Chapter 4

_Standard disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect, nor any other content that you recognise. Some characters and systems are original creations. I am receiving no money for my work._

* * *

 **Shanxi – Theta System**

 **2112.09.25**

* * *

Lieutenant General Jack Williams sat at the briefing room table in his headquarters on Shanxi. In the centre of the long oblong table rotated a hologram of the Zodiac cluster, the explored sections were in blue, while the sections only known of by the recovered Prothean maps were coloured a smoky grey. Joining him at the table were, in person, the three brigadier generals from his own division on Shanxi: Xaio Ke, Kai Jodl and Vittorio Albricci. Brigadier General Maria Soberon, CO of the brigade garrisoning Zapala, and Commodore Lalla Hansa, CO of the naval forces in the Theta system, attended via hologram.

All looked tired and stressed, many having had little sleep since the report on the information from _SSV Voyager_ had been rushed to their desks.

As the highest-ranking officer and the one in overall command, due to inhabited planets under his command being the enemy targets, General Williams began the meeting by informing the others of his strategic decisions. "People, as much as it might please the Commodore to do so, we are not going to fight the enemy in the Zodiac system. Though we don't know where the primary or secondary backdoor relay connections in this sector lead to, as this is the last sector shown on the retrieved Prothean supersector maps, we do know that the Zodiac sectors backdoor relay connection is in the Lambda Expanse."

"Now, we have no idea if it leads to the same sector as the primary relay in the Zodiac Group does, but we can't take the risk, as the Lambda Expanse relay links to both the other clusters in this sector. There is no point in preparing to fight the enemy in the Zodiac Group cluster, if the aliens use this backdoor to go through the Lambda Expanse cluster, cut behind us, and then attack us here in the Centauri Veil cluster while the fleet is away."

Commodore Hansa excepted the point with a slightly sour look, General Williams altered the hologram to show the Centauri Veil cluster. "That means we are going to have to fight them here. Now, they only have one point of entry, the secondary mass relay right here in the Theta system. But we have more than that to think about."

The hologram highlighted two green and four yellow planets spread over four systems. "Here, in Theta system itself, we have the shirt sleeve Chinese colony on Shanxi and the Mexican and Argentinian dome colony on Zapala. Over in the Alpha System, we have the Kenyan and Nigerian dome colony on Kaduna. In the Beta system, we have the Italian and Spanish dome colony on Catania and the Thai and Brazilian dome colony on Karabi. Finally, we have the Indian, Iranian and Turkish shirt sleeve colony on Indus in the Delta system."

"All of them have the garrisons appropriate to their world class and population, which I have decided to leave in place. We do not know the enemy's numbers, motivation, capabilities or military doctrine. I have no intention of stripping these worlds of their garrisons to boost defences here on Shanxi. Not when we are not even certain that Shanxi will be the enemy's primary target, though I admit it is highly likely to be."

Several of the generals looked put out, but with no knowledge of the enemy to counter General Williams's point they accepted the decision. General Williams turned to Commodore Hansa. "Commodore, for those ground pounders who do not know the navy's garrison system as well as the army's, can you please confirm for us the ships we have available?" The general knew of course, but not all his subordinates did, and they needed to know what was available to plan a viable defence.

Commodore Hansa waved her hand at the hologram, suddenly the planets were no longer highlighted, instead the systems were highlighted and a stream of naval data was connected to each one. "Of course, General. Just like the army, when colonising a new sector, the navy assigns ships based on a worlds class and population. Unlike the army, when the sector is fully colonised these forces will be combined, and more ships added to make up a full fleet, rather than following the army's system of waiting for the worlds to grow too the pre-requisite levels before deploying full armies and army groups."

She grimaced as she looked at the readouts again, as if by sheer force of will she could make them multiply. "Unfortunately, this difference does not help us here, as the Zodiac Group and Lambda Expanse clusters are still awaiting exploration and colonisation. On General Williams's order, I have sent a courier boat back to Earth with all the information from the _SSV Voyager,_ but with the political situation it may take days or weeks before they send help. Here, in this cluster, we have my own cruiser squadron totalling 68 warships defending Theta system, another cruiser squadron is assigned to Delta system and its shirt sleeve colony, while Alpha and Beta have only dome worlds. As such they have only been assigned a cruiser detachment of 28 warships each. We also have two sub strength cruiser flights of 4 ships and one full strength cruiser flight of 12 ships patrolling the shipping lanes between all of them."

"Thoughts?" General Williams opened the floor.

"Commodore, there is no way for the alien forces to know of the other systems in this cluster, correct? They would have to scout each star system in an ever-increasing spherical radius from Theta to find them, just as we did to find the garden worlds in the first place." General Soberon was staring intently at the hologram. "Can we not then combine all of the warships into one fleet here in Theta? The only system in the entire Centauri Veil that we know the aliens will have to attack?"

"That is an accurate assumption General, I am certain that the Cole Protocol will have been activated." Commodore Hansa's voice radiated absolute faith in the ships crews that had gone through the relay with _Voyager_."

"The Cole Protocol? That's from Halo. We are not playing computer games here Commodore! What do you think this is?!" Brigadier General Xiao Ke thundered across the table.

Commodore Hansa seemed to be holding back laughter at his outburst. "The human imagination is infinite general. Computer games, books, movies, they cover so many possibilities for our future. If they are well written, then they also provide many courses of action that we can take in response to those possibilities, with the pros and cons often fully explored for us as well. They are just as viable a source of information as our own military exercises at the various academies are, and the navy does not dismiss viable courses of action for a fleet to take when facing unknown alien aggressors – who presumably have no knowledge of our territory – just because they were developed by an author for a computer game, rather than by an officer in response to a training exercise."

"The Cole Protocol is official navy policy, you can be certain that the ships in Zodiac followed it as soon as they realised they were under attack, all navigational data apart from that of Zodiac system will have been destroyed. The aliens will have no knowledge of Alliance territory."

General Xiao looked furious and embarrassed, but General Williams cut across him before he could speak again. "That may be Commodore, but wasn't the _SSV Bunker Hill_ and her wolfpack destroyed before they even knew they were under attack? Can you guarantee that they had time to perform the Cole Protocol? And what of the two other survey ships that were elsewhere in the Zodiac Group when the attack occurred? they could return to the Zodiac System at any moment and be captured before they knew that they had any reason to follow the Cole Protocol, couldn't they?"

Commodore Hansa looked angry at the suggestion, both that her crews had not done their jobs and that they could be fooled, but eventually she gave a sharp nod. Acknowledging the General's point had merit. "Then as tempting as it might be to mass all ships here in Theta to meet the alien threat, I do not think that leaving four colonies completely exposed to naval attack is worth the risk. Especially as we do not know the enemy's capabilities and tactics. If we keep the naval formations separate and the navy is defeated here in Theta, the other systems in the cluster will at least have a chance to analyse the data and plan for the next battle with a viable defence force."

"If we gamble everything on defeating the enemy here in Theta and lose, then there will be no naval forces left to exploit any weaknesses in the enemy's forces or tactics, the entire cluster will be open to naval attack. Commodore, you will have to fight the hostile forces with what you have, and I want courier boats ready to be dispatched to Delta system as soon as the battle begins and ends, whatever the outcome."

The others nodded as they all wished that the interstellar communications and internet system being rolled out across Home Sector was up and running here. Sadly, with the tachyon comm buoys that were the backbone of the network having limited range, they had to be placed in a long chain to each system in normal space. Which made them incredibly expensive and slow to install. The newer colonies like Shanxi still only had their intrasystem internet network, they relied on courier boats for interstellar communication.

"General, I would suggest recalling the intersystem patrols and adding them to my own squadron. They would only lead any scouting alien forces to our inhabited systems, and I could use a little extra punch if we are leaving the other formations in their respective systems. Also, I want to raise the first contact package with you."

The generals face's turned to stone as they all turned to the only naval officer present. "Useful scenario data aside Commodore, this is not Star Trek. We don't plead with alien forces to talk while they shoot at us and destroy our ships." General Soberon voiced what they had all been thinking, though more respectfully than General Xaio would have liked if the glare he was sending at the Commodore was any indication.

Commodore Hansa stood her ground. "I know General, and I have no intention of giving up any first strike advantage my ships might have by broadcasting it when the enemy have come through the relay to attack us. However, this is still first contact. Humanities first encounter with an alien species. Yes, they fired on us and yes, they destroyed our ships. But how we handle this will be the defining moment of our race. It will be looked back on for as long as humans exist as the moment when humans decided to meet the galaxy with an open hand, or with a clenched fist. I want to make it clear that we are better than these aliens, that we are willing to talk no matter how disastrous our first meeting. That we will fight and defend our territory and our people, but that we won't ever close the door on diplomacy. That we will never give up hope of peaceful coexistence."

The Commodore's last attempt to invoke her fellow officers into sending the first contact package had the most effect. They each looked around the table where they saw an American, a Chinaman, a Mexican, a Moroccan, an Italian and a German. Their countries had been allies, enemies and competitors at various points throughout history. At several points many of them had gone to war with each other, ranging from small border conflicts, to wars to the bitter end where they had choked the life out of each other. Yet now, here they sat. Not only on the same side but wearing the same uniform, coexisting peacefully and ready to fight an enemy together. To defend colonies that were not only not their own, but in some cases were inhabited by former bitter enemies.

After a moment Brigadier General Kai Jodl spoke up, though his heart wasn't in it. "The first contact package holds a lot of information that could be useful to an enemy. Our attitudes, our ships, what we are seen doing, the very basic medical data, our history…" He trailed off, not wanting to set the precedent that humanity was an aggressive warmongering race by recommending they not even attempt diplomacy, even if they had been attacked first.

Brigadier General Vittorio Albricci was feeling the same doubts as his fellow officer and gave a possible course of action. "So we cut out everything from the package apart from our language. That will be useful information if they can intercept our comms but we are going to have to live with it if we do this. We also include a video of only 12 of their ships coming through the relay. If they want to give diplomacy a final chance, if their actions in Zodiac really were a misunderstanding, then this will let us open communications. If not, then history will show that despite being assaulted without warning we still tried the path of coexistence, that we were the better race."

Commodore Hansa smiled thankfully at him. "I can have that ready to go in three hours. I'll load it into one of our courier boats on auto pilot, set to broadcast on all possible frequencies as soon as it clears the relay. As soon as it detects movement towards the ship I will also have one of our smallest nukes tied into the sensors and set to detonate. It won't be large enough to cause any damage to ships more than a few hundred metres away, but it will utterly destroy the courier boat. There will be nothing left for them to capture and analyse if they are still hostile."

Lt. General Williams thought about the idea for a long time, giving an enemy useful tactical information in the form of language, vs never even attempting communication with the first alien race humanity had met. Eventually he came to his decision. "Do it, if they are going to be called to war I want the people of the Systems Alliance to know that we did all that we could to prevent it. You have my full support for whatever actions you take in space Commodore. Defend this system as best you are able, but if you are overwhelmed do not hesitate to retreat. Ships and experienced crews are far more valuable in war than heroic but pointless deaths."

"General Soberon, you have full tactical authority for Zapala. Defend the colony however you see fit." The two officers present by hologram saluted and then shimmered out of existence. Lt. General Williams turned to the COs of the three brigades that made up his division of ~165,000 soldiers to begin planning the defence of Shanxi.

* * *

 **Theta System – Centauri Veil**

 **2112.09.28**

* * *

Commodore Hansa stood at the plot table in the centre of the multi-level octagon pit that was an Alliance ships Flag CIC. Around her on two successive levels were ringed the workstations for the crew that would enable her to effectively command the fleet, but here in the centre, there was just her and the plot table showing the fleets position. The first contact package had been sent through the relay three days ago, then she had got to work on planning to defend Theta system.

Right now, the plot showed her ships, all arranged in flights of four ships that were the Alliance's standard naval formation. All other formations were built from the understanding that the warships would be deployed in self-supporting flights of four. At the centre of the fleet were the 8 heavy cruisers that included her flagship, Tehran. Surrounding them were 20 of her 44-strong cruiser force, while the remaining 24 were split, 12 on each side, forming the curving flanks of her formation. Ready to speed ahead and run down fleeing enemy forces, to envelope defeated enemies, or to turn outward and defend against flanking attacks. Whatever might await her fleet, they were trained and ready for it.

The final group of ships in her full-strength squadron were the 16 frigates. Of limited use in battle due to their weak main guns, kinetic barriers and armour, frigates had only two traditional uses in battle. That of torpedo screen and torpedo boat. Moving independently across the fleet to use their guardian arrays to reinforce whichever part was under the heaviest non-gun attack before charging at any hole in the enemy's formation and delivering a hopefully knockout blow to their dreadnoughts and heavy cruisers.

Commodore Hansa had reinforced that roving frigate group with the four frigates from the full-strength cruiser flight she had recalled from interstellar patrol, bringing the total to 20 frigates. She had also changed their orders to remain in reserve unless enemy fighters were detected.

Her nightmare while planning this battle was enemy strike craft, _Voyager's_ data showed that the aliens had successfully miniaturised disruptor torpedoes enough that theoretically small versions of them could successfully be deployed on strike craft. Like all humans, she knew how deadly carriers and fighters were to fleets designed on the principle of big guns. The second world war had proven that. If the enemy forces jumped in with carriers her defeat was certain, but that frigate force might just buy her enough time to retreat.

The remaining 16 cruisers from the two sub-strength and one full-strength cruiser flights on interstellar patrol were elsewhere. She had something special planned for them.

The Commodore was nervous, though she didn't show it. Voyager's recordings showed that the enemy ships had superior speed, armour, torpedoes, guardian arrays and kinetic barriers when compared to her own. She also believed from the way that they had been deployed and used that the 317m ships that Voyager and Bunker Hill had identified as cruisers, were in fact frigates. This filled her with dread as that made the enemy frigates more than double the length of her own 157m Pearl Harbour class frigates and only 23m shorter than her own 340m Geneva class cruisers.

Thankfully it seemed that the aliens gun technology was the same. Both the enemy frigates and her own cruisers had a single main gun that was 300m in length, and from the recordings the shots from both impacted with a firepower of 5.4 kilotons. The problem was if the other enemy forces were similarly supersized, then her fleet would be swatted away like gnats. The recordings showed that the enemy cruiser was 535m long with a firepower of 15.1 kt from its 500m main gun. When compared to her own cruisers it was a firepower difference of nearly 10 kt. Her own cruisers guns were two thirds weaker than the enemy's. She would have to engage with her 600m heavy cruisers and their 18.3 kt/550m main guns to come anywhere close to the enemy cruisers firepower, and if that size discrepancy continued…

Shaking off her doubts, the Commodore focused on her fleets position, which was below and behind the mass relay. Here was where she had decided to make her stand, using the defenders advantage of positioning to try and make up for the enemy's advantages in size and technology. From this position her ships could fire up at ships emerging from the mass relay, striking them from behind and below. These were the weakest aspects of human designed ships, that was something that she prayed was true of the alien ships as well.

"Relay is showing activity!" Comms reported before sending out the fleet wide call to battle stations.

"Action stations, action stations, set condition one throughout the ship! Action stations, action stations, set condition one throughout the ship!" The _SSV Tehran_ had already been at condition two along with the rest of the fleet, so there was no mad scramble as the alert strips turned from yellow to red and the alert claxon screamed. The CIC crew noted that Captain Fisher had called Tehran to battle stations before they had sent out the fleet wide order. Commodore Hansa allowed herself a small smile at her Flag Captain's efficiency.

"The fleet is at action stations Commodore, all ships report cleared for action." Comms reported before Sensors jumped in.

"Ships exiting relay, they appear to be in standard flights of four, the same as alliance warships. Profile matches the unknowns encountered in Zodiac system. Two distinct ship types detected, length 3-1-7m reclassified as enemy frigate." The sensor officers voice shook a little at classifying such a ship as a frigate, but he continued. "Length 5-3-5m, reclassified as enemy cruiser."

"Numbers!" Commodore Hansa demanded, hoping against hope that the information her plot was showing was wrong and there were less than twelve.

"Total numbers one-eight-zero ships and rising, I think they are conducting sensor sweeps but they seem to be focusing on the inner system. They are not reacting to our presence."

"Comms, anything?"

"No Commodore."

"Then send out a general order. Open Fire."

* * *

 _Codex Entry: Humans – System Alliance Navy – Non Flag Officers_

 _(Citadel Codex, First Human SPECTRE Collector's Edition, 2183)_

* * *

 **Codex users please be aware that these ranks and their responsibilities are POST the major reforms undertaken of the Systems Alliance navy command structure following the Relay 314 Incident (First Contact War) in 2112. As such they are the roles that the Alliance uses today, For the pre-reform structure of the Systems Alliance navy please see appendix 6 subsection 4 of this codex.**

 _The Systems Alliance Navy is made up of many ranks, but those citizens of the galaxy who encounter it will almost always encounter a non-flag officer, if they encounter an officer at all. These officers make up the vast majority of the navy's officer ranks by numbers and ensure the smooth running and professionalism of the fleet._

 _The flag officers may tell the navy where to go and how to fight, but it is the non-flag officers, from the most senior Captain to the most junior Ensign, who turn these orders into a reality. The navy is the Senior Service of the Systems Alliance._

 _As a simple method to distinguish between naval officers who fly strike craft and those who serve purely aboard warships, all flying officers (as strike craft pilots are collectively known) have a courtesy rank that they are referred to by in general conversation and in battle. This does not replace their naval rank, which remains their rank for all highly official business such as inter-service operations, pay, court martials etc…., but does make their different speciality a lot more noticeable._

 ** _OF5 – Captain:_** _Every ship larger than a cruiser is commander by a Captain. Though higher ranked officers may be aboard, these 'flag' officers will be commanding the fleet and explicitly do not command the ship they are on so as not to split their attention. They are the equivalent of colonels._

 _Captains may also perform duties at the fleet level without commanding a warship, a medium sized formations chief intelligence officer will often be a captain for example. Captains are also tasked with commanding naval listening posts and the smallest logistics stations._

 _Strike craft groups are made up of 4 squadrons, the lead officer is always a captain, who is known as a group captain, and who is also the CAG for cruiser squadrons._

 _The presence of this rank in such a different place in the navy hierarchy compared to the army, marine and colonial guard hierarchy is the source of much irritation to alien species that have to work closely with the human military._

 ** _OF4 – Commander:_** _These officers command cruisers and serve as executive officers on capital ships, they also head essential departments such as engineering on capital ships. They are the equivalent of lieutenant colonels._

 _Strike craft wings are made up of 4 squadrons and the lead officer is always a commander, who is known as a wing commander. Wing commanders are the commander air group (CAG) for escort carriers and cruiser detachments._

 ** _OF3 – Lieutenant Commander:_** _These officers command frigates, serve as executive officers on cruisers, and serve as department heads on capital ships. Lieutenant commanders are the equivalent of army and marine majors._

 _Strike craft squadrons are made up of 4 flights of strike craft and the lead pilot is always a lieutenant commander, who is known as a squadron leader._

 _The most famous Alliance lieutenant commander is the newly appointed SPECTRE John Sheppard, who holds the rank of lieutenant commander due to his grade of N7 in the Alliance's naval special forces programme. For more details on the N (naval) special forces grades please see the special forces codex entry._

 ** _OF2 – First Lieutenant:_** _Every warship has a first lieutenant, this is the most senior lieutenant on the ship and their role is to both support the CO and XO in the CIC, as well as ensure that all the lieutenants and ensigns on the ship are performing their duties. If they are not, then the first lieutenant will discipline them without involving senior officers, just as the bosun does for the ship's non-commissioned officers and crew. They are the equivalent of army captains._

 _On frigates, first lieutenants also perform the duties of the executive officer as frigates are too small to have a dedicated officer for that role. First lieutenants are usually officers that have shown particular promise with the result that their senior officers have picked them out for development, in the hope that they will one day command their own vessels._

 _First lieutenants have no flying officer equivalent_

 ** _OF1 – Lieutenant:_** _Lieutenants are typically heads of department and officers of the watch on frigates and cruisers. On larger ships they serve as senior section leaders, coordinating multiple sections who remain under the command of ensigns. They are the equivalent of army lieutenants._

 _Strike craft fly in flights of 4, the lead pilot is always a lieutenant who is known as a flight lieutenant._

 ** _OF0 – Ensign:_** _Ensigns are the lowest officer rank in the navy and they are typically section leaders on all Alliance ships. They are the equivalent of second lieutenants._

 _All standard strike craft pilots are ensigns, who are known as flying officers._

* * *

 _Codex Entry: Humans – Alliance Navy and Flying Corps Non-Commissioned Officers_

 _(Citadel Codex, First Human SPECTRE Collector's Edition, 2183)_

* * *

 _To hear the crew of the Alliance navy tell it, the non-commissioned officers are the ones that truly keep the human ships running. Making sure that no matter where they are, their ships are always ready to perform whatever mad stunt their officers ask of them this time. Given the Alliance navy's history of snatching victory from the jaws of defeat and reducing their ships to scrap in the process, it seems the non-coms have their work cut out for them._

 _Non-commissioned officers are sailors that have shown great leadership and technical skills, but who started in the ranks and have not received commissioned officer training at the military academies._

 _ **OR9 – Master Chief Petty officer of the Alliance Navy/Flying Corps:**_ _The highest ranked non-commissioned officer in the Systems Alliance navy, they are responsible for all of the non-commissioned officers in the Alliance navy in their respective service._

 _The master chief petty officer of the Alliance flying corps performs the same duty for all of the deck chiefs and ground crew non-commissioned officers in the Alliance._

 _ **OR8 – (Formation) Chief Petty Officer:**_ _The most senior non-commissioned officer in a formation detachment sized and above, these officers deal with all disciplinary matters for the sailors and non-coms in the formation and will see that everything is running smoothly._

 _Officially listed as first and second class warrant officers, in practice they are known by the unit they are assigned to. Eg: the squadron chief petty officer, the fleet chief petty officer etc… Their ranks relative to each other are decided by the size of the unit they serve. A fleet chief petty officer is a higher rank than a detachment chief petty officer._

 _There are no formation chief petty officers in the flying corps._

 _ **OR7 – Master Chief Petty Officer:**_ _Master chief petty officers serve as the most senior non-com on all ships of the Alliance apart from frigates and the most senor is granted the honorary title of bosun when that is the case. On capital ships they also serve as department leaders along side the Lt. commanders and commanders._

 _The highest ranked non-com in the flying corps ground crew is known as the deck chief and it is their responsibility to see to all launch, landing, rearming and maintenance of the flying officers strike craft. The deck chief has total responsibility for, and authority on, the flight deck for this purpose. They can only be overruled by the CAG or the Captain, despite many higher ranks forgetting this until forcibly reminded. On fleet carriers, a master chief petty officer always serves as deck chief._

 _ **OR6 – Colour Chief Petty Officer:**_ _Each Alliance capital ship has a flag that is unique to that ship. When on parade or other ceremonial duties that require their crew to be on the ground or in full dress uniform in the docking bay, the capital ships will fly their own flag and the flag of the fleet that they are assigned to._

 _Taking the form of a 1m x 1.2m flag on a 2.6m long pole topped with a silver Systems Alliance dragon, these flags are known as the colours. On each capital ship two chief petty officers will have the honour of carrying them and are promoted to the rank of colour chief petty officer to reflect that honour._

 _A fleet carriers strike craft compliment will also fly a flag while on parade, usually it is the flag of the most senior squadron aboard._

 _ **OR5 – Chief Petty Officer:**_ _The highest of the standard non-commissioned officer ranks. On cruisers chief petty officers serve as the most senior non-com in a department on beta and delta shifts, and on capital ships they are assigned with the lieutenants to senior sections due to the increased crew requirements._

 _The highest ranked non-com in the flying corps ground crew is known as the deck chief and it is their responsibility to see to all launch, landing, rearming and maintenance of the flying officers strike craft. The deck chief has total responsibility for, and authority on, the flight deck for this purpose. They can only be overruled by the CAG or the Captain, despite many higher ranks forgetting this until forcibly reminded._

 _On escort carriers a chief petty officer serves as deck chief. A single Chief Petty officer is the most senior non-com on frigates and is granted the honorary title of bosun when that is the case, just as the commanding Lt. commander is granted the honorary title of captain._

 _ **OR4 – Petty Officer:**_ _The middle of the standard non-commissioned officer ranks, each section will have a petty officer to ensure its smooth running. As sections are led by ensigns, usually fresh out of the academy, petty officers also mentor the new officers. Helping them get to grips with shipboard life, the technical and logistical requirements of their section, and the crew under their command._

 _ **OR3 – Leading Hand:**_ _The lowest of the non-commissioned officer ranks, leading hands have shown leadership ability and have cross trained, allowing them to work in at least two departments. As such they are a very valuable asset able to quickly plug manpower shortages, train new sailors or sailors who are in the process of specialising, and be dropped into any department that has disciplinary issues to get the problem under control before it comes to attention of the ship's officers._

 _Despite being considered a non-commissioned rank, leading hands tend to consider themselves simply a better trained sailor rather than a true non-com. This is mainly due to the time they spend training and mentoring sailors on their first shipboard cruises._

 _ **OR2 – Sailor First Class:**_ _Sailor first class is not a non-commissioned officer rank. Rather it is the rank held by those sailors that have begun to specialise their skills. Gunnery and engineering experts are the most common specialisations that see their holders advance from sailor to sailor first class. Environmental is the most critical, despite being looked down on by all the other departments._

 _All of the flying corps ground crew graduate with the rank of sailor first class due to their additional training and the mantinnce of the Alliance's fighters, bombers and flight decks being categorised as a specialist department._

 _ **OR1 – Sailor:**_ _Sailor is not a non-commissioned officer rank. Rather it is the rank held by the vast majority of the members of the Alliance navy. All crew who complete basic training and are accepted into the navy are granted the rank of sailor, unless their training specifically allows them to enter with a higher rank._

 _Members of the flying corps do not hold the rank of sailor._

* * *

 **Timeline changes so far**

 _First colony on mars: 27 years earlier than canon_

 _Discovery of Prothean ruins: 64 years earlier than canon_

 _Founding of the Systems Alliance (council of nations version): 63 years earlier than canon_

 _The First Contact War: 45 years earlier than canon_


	5. Chapter 5

_Standard disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect, nor any other content that you recognise. Some characters and systems are original creations. I am receiving no money for my work._

* * *

 **Zodiac System – Zodiac Group**

 **2112.09.28**

* * *

Admiral Macen Arterius stood in the banner bridge of his dreadnought, the _Hierarchy War Ship Enforcer_ , watching his fleet transit the relay in parade formation. His mood had deteriorated even further since the debriefing of Captain Sidonis. As the fleet had been gathering the smugglers had tried to disable it with a cyberweapon, broadcast from a small blockade runner. Thankfully his cyberwarfare officer had caught the completely unknown programming language and flagged it as a threat, preventing any damage, but when his ships moved in to search the vessel broadcasting it, the vessel had self-destructed in a nuclear fireball.

At this point he was forced to wonder if the smugglers were actively _trying_ to see how many different Citadel laws they could break before he brought them to justice. The smugglers last, desperate, attempt to defeat Third Patrol Fleet was now being studied in isolation on one of his frigates, but the nuclear mine on the blockade runner, undoubtedly an attempt to destroy the any ships moving in to capture the smugglers, had enraged the fleet's crew.

It was because of these affronts to naval warfare that he had decided to transit the relay in parade formation. 76 cruisers and 25 frigates would remain behind to perform essential patrols and make it look like Third Patrol Fleet was still in its assigned cluster, simply performing training exercises out of sight.

The remainder of his fleet, consisting of his 2nd line dreadnought bannership, 420 cruisers and 70 frigates, were going to hunt these criminals down. Hopefully, the failure of their cyberweapon and the appearance of nearly 500 turian ships of war would show the smugglers that there was no escape and save him having to chase them all over the cluster. It was a forlorn hope, but it was nice to daydream about.

In reality, the relay transition of virtually an entire turian patrol fleet in parade formation would do little more than demoralise the smugglers, but it would be a huge morale boost to his own forces. Seeing their comrades transition in professional, neat lines, the discipline and competence of the turian fleet on full display. It would go a long way to rebuilding his crew's confidence in themselves as well as sending their smuggler opponents the message that there was no where that they could run.

 _HWS Enforcer_ transited the relay at the head of the last third of the fleet as dictated by both turian battle doctrine and parade formation. Admiral Arterius braced himself for the deceleration as they exited the relay, but he was sent sprawling across the deck as Enforcer rocked more violently than any relay transition could cause.

"Admiral, we are under fire!"

The report from damage control electrified the banner bridge as Enforcer rocked again. The Admiral scrambled back to his feet as a circuit breaker overloaded near the door, showering the deck with sparks as the attached console went dark and the smell of burned electrics filled the room. The crewman manning the console raced to a backup one as Sensors finally reported.

"The whole fleet is under fire! Source is 180 degrees lateral by 45 degrees ventral. Our ships are accelerating and trying to come about to face them." Sensors called out finally clarifying the situation, even if their voice was tinged with horror at the fact that their opponents had an unobstructed shot at their sterns.

"It's taking too long to accelerate from a standing start and to make the turn, multiple ships reporting kinetic barrier failures, 17 ships confirmed destroyed or disabled." Comms reported bluntly. Getting a shot at a warship's stern was every commander's dream, and the enemy forces firing on them were taking full advantage. The turian ships sluggishly tried to turn to face them, but their low starting speed was seriously hampering their manoeuvrability, and the enemy guns kept firing.

The ship rocked again as the sound of the engines cut out for a second before coming back weaker. Several crewmembers glanced at Damage Control, wondering how bad the damage was.

"Severe damage to engine 4. Our cruiser escort is covering us from the smuggler ships' fire, but our speed and manoeuvrability are severely degraded, Admiral."

"Enemy numbers confirmed: 20 frigates, 44 cruisers and…8 dreadnoughts?" Tactical called up in shock.

"Confirm that!" The Admiral snapped.

"Clarification - warbook classifies those ships as dreadnoughts due to the size discrepancy with their cruisers, they are only 600m long. Shall I redesignate?"

"Negative, keep dreadnought designation and prioritise them for return fire."

Sensors spoke up in relief as the tactical plot finally showed some good news for the turian fleet. "The first frigate and cruiser squadrons have completed their turns, they are now returning fire with their main guns. Smuggler forces are maintaining formation and rate of fire."

"These are no smugglers." Admiral Arterius re-established control over the wave of reports. Pride filling his chest as his crew fell back on their training and dealt with the completely unexpected situation with utter professionalism. "Redesignate enemy warships as military opponents and inform all ships to expect them to act as such."

That caused the banner bridge to go silent, the only sounds were the roar of the remaining engines at full power. Comms finally broke the shocked silence and spoke up "Admiral, if they are not smugglers should we not open communications?"

"It is too late for that, crewman. We are in the middle of a battle, any changes will have to wait until we are no longer under fire. Launch all fighters and begin an attack run with all forces that have completed their turns. All remaining forces are to form up upon completing their own turns and prepare to follow the first wave in. Signal Banner Captain Kuril: she is to open fire as soon as Enforcer has a firing solution."

"Yes Admiral, transmitting orders."

The deck reverberated under the Admiral's feet as Endurance's 32 fighters left her hangar deck to join the ones detaching from their docking points on each cruiser's hull. With several cruisers already destroyed, and the fighters themselves vulnerable, there had already been hundreds of losses - they were docked externally and so not protected by the armour of their motherships. The 978 surviving fighters joined up with the frigates and cruisers now firing on the enemy and swooped ahead in the standard attack run, using their micro-torpedoes to overheat the enemy's guardian arrays and leave them vulnerable to torpedoes from the fleet.

Admiral Arterius barely noticed. He was focused on the fleet he was facing, including the 8 'dreadnoughts' at its centre. This wasn't a smuggling group. It wasn't a mercenary group either, which left only one option for so many large ships of unknown design. He had encountered a new race and his actions had hidden them from the Citadel's diplomatic corps.

To make matters worse, under his orders, the Third Patrol Fleet had fired on and destroyed their scouting force, invaded their space, and had now, just to make sure there was no way left to salvage the situation, engaged one of their main fleets in open warfare. The shame in his gut burned hotter as he suddenly remembered the 'cyberweapon' with the completely unknown programming language that had been broadcast at his fleet. Far from a malicious attack, it now seemed likely that it had actually been some sort of first contact package used as a last attempt to try and resolve Third Patrol Fleet's attacks peacefully.

He had responded by taking the whole fleet through the relay.

Looking back now, it seemed so obvious that the broadcast was a first contact package. But as they taught in the academy, your mind will see what it wants to see. He and his crew thought they were dealing with smugglers, so their minds - and his own - had arrived at 'enemy cyberweapon' long before anyone had even considered 'first contact package'.

The hull rang as another shot from the enemy's main guns slammed into the rear armour, reminding him why turian battle doctrine demanded the deployment of self-propelled nova bombs through the relay first when conducting a trans relay assault. They were sent through first to destroy any enemy ambush forces, then the fleet transited the relay at high speed to throw off any surviving ambush forces firing solutions and give them the speed to turn quickly to face any survivors.

Snapping back to the present rather than the academy, he studied the tactical plot in greater detail. Regardless of anything else, he had a battle to win and turian lives to save right now. He could decide on a course of action out of this mess once the enemy forces had been forced to surrender or retreat. Hopefully, destroying them would not be necessary.

"Our fighters are approaching enemy fleet and preparing to attack, entering enemy guardian range in 20 seconds." Tactical reported.

"Fleet units are continuing to fire on enemy vessels, multiple enemy vessels are taking damage."

With the first turian ships finally in a position to return fire the barriers of the enemy ships began to light up as they came under fire themselves. Far weaker than those on turian ships they quickly failed, explosions rippling across the enemy fleet as shots finally managed to impact their armour. Hundreds of turian fighters flew at high speed towards the explosions, intending to deliver the killer blow. The enemy fleet shifted, the small frigates in the rear of their formation moving for the first time, charging forwards to meet the fighter attack.

"Enemy commander is deploying their frigate reserve to counter our fighter attack."

Admiral Arterius nodded in respect to his opponent as he acknowledged the report and studied the display. It seemed the enemy had no fighters of their own, but his opposite number must have deduced that the turian forces might have them and had held their own best anti-fighter platforms in reserve. It was a good move on the enemy Admiral's part, but it would only be a drop in the bucket against his own 900+ surviving fighters that were now charging straight towards the enemy fleet, waiting to unleash a wave of micro torpedoes that would tear apart their frigates and overload the guardian arrays of their cruisers and dreadnoughts. Leaving them defenceless against the torpedoes from his vanguard.

"By the spirits! Casualties, multiple casualties! Fighters are taking heavy guardian fire." Tactical practically screamed in horror as friendly transponders winked off the tactical display at an astounding rate.

"I thought you said their targeting and guardian arrays were inferior to ours? How can they be doing this?"

"Fighter force is down to approximately 700 fighters and dropping fast."

The enemy frigates were sending pulses of laser death into the swarming turian fighters knocking dozens out of the stars. The fighters frantically manoeuvred, abandoning their attack run and throwing themselves into spirals and other evasive tactics, simply trying to survive. But wherever they turned it seemed there was an enemy guardian beam waiting for them.

"They are inferior! It's their targeting algorithms that aren't. They are predicting our fighters' every move, everything they try is countered before they have even started the manoeuvre! It's as if the enemy know every possible tactic fighters can perform."

The Admiral shuddered: perhaps they did. Just because they didn't have any fighters here, it didn't mean that they didn't have them. His fighters continued to wink off the display at an appalling rate. "Fleetwide, launch torpedoes. If our fighters can't be more than targets, then let's make their sacrifice worthwhile." He gave the order dispassionately and watched as the tactical display registered multiple torpedo launches from all ships in range.

New stars appeared in the sky as the torpedoes engines lit up as they raced at the enemy fleet. The enemy frigates changed formation, spreading out and attempting to form a wide line to intercept the torpedoes before they could hit their capital ships, ignored for the first time the turian fighters re-engaged. Burning with hatred at the deaths of so many of their fellow pilots they dove at the enemy frigates, firing their micro-torpedoes the enemy frigates fired up their engines and attempted to reposition, putting a chance at vengeance on the enemy forces over the chance to escape as the main fleets anti-ship torpedoes raced in.

"Multiple torpedo impacts, their guardian arrays couldn't take the torpedoes as well as the fighters. Several enemy ships destroyed, including three dreadnoughts and their entire frigate screen. Several more ships, including two dreadnoughts, are showing signs of major hull damage." Tactical sounded gleeful as the enemy fleet finally took serious damage.

"Their centre is exposed to direct fire, all ships are to focus fire on that location. Priority on the two damaged dreadnoughts, then focus on the last three. One of them has to be the enemy bannership." With the enemy centre exposed Admiral Arterius had spotted an opportunity to cut off the head of the snake while ripping the heart out of the enemy fleets firepower at the same time. The turian fleet shifted its fire to follow its Admirals orders and take advantage of the sudden opportunity.

"Fighters are breaking off and returning to the fleet, what's left of them." Comms reported sadly.

The enemy fleet changed formation again as the turian fighters fled back to the safety of their fleet. With no surviving frigates and thus vulnerable to another torpedo/fighter combined attack the enemy Admiral had made decision, resulting in the formation change. What that decision was, none of the turians were certain. But their confidence grew as more enemy ships, including one of the damaged dreadnoughts, exploded or fell out of formation. Every minute more turian guns joined the attack and the enemy forces barriers were already down across virtually their entire feet, shot after shot impacted their armour as their return fire, already badly degraded with the loss of 5 dreadnoughts, dwindled further.

"Enemy fleet is changing formation, the wings are pulling back but the centre is static, their formation shape is reversing."

"The last damaged dreadnought just went up, the fleet is focusing its fire on the three remaining dreadnoughts, they won't last long at this rate. Over half the fleet now has firing solutions."

"Enemy ships have ceased fire with their main guns and are reorienting, they are retreating Admiral. Continuing to receive fire from enemy secondary guns." Sensors reported, relieved that the battle, so much bloodier than they had expected, was finally coming to an end.

"We have a firing solution and Captain Kruil has chosen an undamaged dreadnought, firing at maximum reload rate."

"Enemy are powering up engines."

"Enemy dreadnought destroyed! Their no match for Enforcer's main gun Admiral."

The explosion that engulphed one of the three remaining enemy dreadnoughts barely had time to dim before the fleet finally leaped forward, accelerating to FTL and safety as wave after wave of turian rounds flew through the space where they had been only moments before.

"Enemy ships have jumped to FTL, they're gone sir."

There was a moment's tense pause as the sensor techs tried to determine if it had been an in system tactical jump. "No sign of them exiting anywhere in this system, it looks like they have retreated to another location in this cluster sir."

The Admiral nodded, looking at the debris field from his own destroyed ships and those of the new race. "Secure from battle stations. Recover the fighters and start patrols around the fleet, order our recovery ships to search for escape pods from the unknown ships as well. They are to recover them and provide medical care if they are able, but they must show caution. The occupants will be hostile. Signal our legion's troop ships to come through the relay send our shipborne troops to evaluate the disabled enemy vessels and select the most intact ones for study."

As the crew scrambled to carry out his orders Admiral Arterius resisted the urge to claw the command podium in rage at the situation and looked directly at his comms officer. "Call the banner officers and General Sparatus to Enforcer. We need to decide where we go from here."

* * *

 **Theta System – Centauri Veil**

 **2112.09.28**

* * *

The banner officers of the Third Patrol Fleet were gathered in the briefing room aboard _HWS Enforcer_. The room as silent as they reviewed the data from the battle and the recovery operations that had been ongoing for the last few hours.

"Casualties?" Admiral Arterius asked softly, staring at the holomap of the system.

"The enemy commander seemed to focus their fire on our cruisers. With the fire coming from behind and below while our ships were almost stationary, we lost a lot of good turians. 38 cruisers were destroyed outright, or are total wrecks despite managing to hold together. A further 22 have varying degrees of damage overall, but all of them have major engine damage that is going to make moving under their own power difficult."

"Enforcer herself has taken moderate engine damage and is limited to three quarters of normal flank speed with badly compromised manoeuvrability. Fleetwide, we lost over three quarters of our fighters. Only 327 made it back." Adrien Nyx gave the report that he had been dreading.

Macen Arterius closed his eyes and thanked the spirits that it was not worse. Turian ships had heavier armour on their ventral surfaces than on their dorsal ones, they were designed to support the army during planetary invasions and as such had to be armoured against heavy fire from the surface. If the enemy commander had attacked from behind and above, rather than from behind and below…. He shook himself and returned to the present.

"Make a note: the enemy ships are most likely more vulnerable to attacks from below than to ones from above. They had no real information on our ships, so the manner they chose to attack is likely to have been the one that would have caused most damage to their own ships. They must have hoped that ours were similarly constructed. Enemy casualties?"

"All 20 frigates, 16 of 44 cruisers and 6 of 8 dreadnoughts were confirmed destroyed before they retreated. Other ships, though sadly not their remaining dreadnoughts, were showing various signs of damage and so are believed to be at best only partially combat capable despite successfully retreating."

"The analysts believe that we destroyed half the enemy fleet outright, with a quarter of the remaining ships damaged in some way." Solona Kandros's voice didn't hold any enthusiasm. Third Patrol Fleet had been caught napping and had suffered the cost. An enemy with a serious technological, numerical and firepower disadvantage had inflicted far more damage than should have been possible for them. Destroying or damaging 9% of the fleet despite being outnumbered approximately 7:1.

"We have recovered the wrecked enemy ships." Nyreen Kuril spoke up. "Their dreadnoughts and frigates were pounded to scrap, but we have managed to find 2 cruisers in very good condition - relatively speaking - and 3 more that are intact enough for us to conduct live fire exercises on. We should be able to get valuable data on how they stand up to our weapons in more varied circumstances once the life fire tests can begin."

"I have called together all the science officers from across the fleet and put them to work investigating the most intact cruiser, the second one has been given to our shipborne troops to practice boarding actions on. We also recovered 384 escape pods from the enemy vessels. I have assigned the prisoners to the scientists to see what they can tell us about their biology and social structures. I've also called the frigate that was analysing their first contact package through the relay to help."

The room lapsed into silence, none of the officer's present wanted to address the last item, the one that they had to discuss but were wishing that would just go away.

The doors to the briefing room opened and General Vetra Sparatus, commanding officer of the 600,000 strong turian army legion assigned to the Third Patrol Fleet, strode confidently into the tense silence of the room. "Well, you buggered this up didn't you Arterius!"

The glares from the naval officers would have melted the hull had they been able to, but General Sparatus was unaffected.

The turian military, indeed the whole of turian society, was shaped by the lack of garden worlds that had a dextro based environment. The turian army and navy were the largest in the galaxy primarily so that they could protect the precious few garden worlds that provided the bulk of the foodstuffs for the entire turian species. As the protection of these planets were so important, the army had risen to become the turian senior service and its generals dominated Palaven Command.

The vulnerability of their food supply had also led to the development of the turian strategy of bringing as much firepower as possible to bear on an enemy as quickly as possible. Trying to overwhelm them and remove their ability to fight before they could take advantage of this weakness, or the other glaring turian weakness's. The lack of economic reserves and the lack of strategic intelligence.

General Sparatus could have relied on the support of her fellow generals in Palaven Command in any event. Now? Well, Third Patrol Fleet's officers would be spectacularly lucky if the admirals in Palaven Command didn't join the generals in calling for their heads.

"Are you seriously telling me that none of you have addressed the thresher maw in the colony?" The General managed to dominate the meeting despite standing on the floor of the briefing room, lower than all of the naval officers who were both on elevated platforms and in their own territory. It was an indicator of how badly they knew that they had screwed up.

"So." The General began pacing. "Under your command Admiral, Third Patrol Fleet has engaged and destroyed unknown vessels, believing them to be smugglers. You then ignored an attempt at peaceful communication, believing it to be a cyberweapon employed by the previously mentioned smugglers, before…. Liberally…. interpreting your orders to allow you to send virtually the entire fleet through the relay. Whereupon you ended up engaging a whole fleet of unknown vessels in combat, let them get the best of you, and have embroiled the Hierarchy and possibly the entire Citadel in a war with a completely unknown alien species. All because at each stage you wanted to fix the mistakes that lead to the previous event before anyone found out about it."

"Yes." Macen ground out, longing for the point in this fiasco when the worst that his fleet had done was allowed presumed smugglers to operate in its patrol area. How minor a failure such as that seemed at this point. His officers stared at the ground, shamefaced.

"Well then. It's no use complaining how the varren escaped when it's three fields away, what we need to do now is decide how we are going to fix this massive cluster fuck." Vetra Sparatus changed the hologram so it highlighted 6 positions throughout the system. The irony of announcing she was going to do the exact same thing she had just berated Macen Arterius for doing was apparently lost on her.

"This new race has lost a scouting group, had their attempts at peaceful communications refused, and had an alien fleet come through its relay and force one of their own fleets into retreat. They are going to be furious and even if they accepted negotiation at this point, they would demand things that we cannot give without humiliating the entire Hierarchy. Now, this doesn't look like their homeworld, there are nowhere near enough aliens nor enough industry for that to be the case. But the fact that they designated eight dreadnoughts to defend it says to me that this is one of only one or two garden wolrds in their possession, and that their homeworld must be close by. Perhaps even in this cluster."

The other occupants now stared at the map intently as a plan to extricate all of them from this mess with as much of their tattered dignity as they could save at this point began to materialise.

"Our solution is simple, we will invade and capture all of their worlds in this system. Loosing such a major colony that is so close to their homeworld should shock them into coming to the negotiating table. From there we will be able to negotiate from a position of strength and produce a peace that allows us to save as much face as possible without poisoning them against the Citadel. Then, when we have salvaged as much as we can from this debacle, we will inform the Citadel and face judgement for our actions." The pointed look that she shot at the Admiral left no one in any doubt as to who General Sparatus thought would be absorbing the majority of that judgement.

"What do you need from us General?" The exhaustion in Macen's voice shone through, letting everyone know that his acquiescence was more than that of a naval officer recognising that their primary duty was to support the army. It was a recognition that Vetra Sparatus and her plan was the only chance that this situation had of ending in anything even remotely resembling victory.

"These four station colonies, two space stations, one asteroid and one zero atmosphere planet. I will leave it to you and your ship's troops to capture them, you can handle that, right?"

Superior Captain Kandros nodded when the Admiral didn't respond.

"I'll also need you to cover 100,000 of my men as they land on this large moon that houses their dome colony. I'll expect the rest of the fleet to cover my invasion of the main garden world and patrol the system. I don't need any surprises while I am beating these primitives into submission. Is that within your capabilities, Admiral?"

Admiral Macen Arterius couldn't shake the feeling of dread as he stared as the beautiful blue and green planet highlighted in the holomap. At every stage of this catastrophe, every action he had taken to try and rectify the situation had only made things worse. Now he feared that General Sparatus was making the same mistake, but he had received his orders and like any good turian he would follow them. Whether he thought that they were right or not. "Yes General, we'll have total control of the system and orbital supremacy over all worlds by the time your first troop ship hits the atmosphere."

The confidence radiated off General Sparatus as she looked at the same blue-green orb that the Admiral had. "Good. Now, we have an invasion to win. let's go and humble these primitives and force them to the negotiating table. Given the tech level of their warships it should be a simple affair."

Commands streamed from the bannership as the fleet separated itself into squadrons and the Leigon troopships prepared for landing. In a last desperate attempt to save the Hierarchy from total humiliation, Third Patrol Fleet was going to roll the dice. One, final, time.

* * *

 _Codex Entry: Humans – The Use of Council Races Military Doctrines in Human History_

 _(Citadel Codex, First Human SPECTRE Collector's Edition, 2183)_

 _(Special credit to researcher Soberan 123 – Source: Ralfast Wordpress)_

* * *

 _The wars between the human nation states on Earth have affected not only their naval military doctrine, but also their land and strategic doctrine as well. Humans have in fact, at different points throughout their history, used the military doctrines of all the council races in a variety of their wars._

 _The salarian military doctrine is one of a reliance on spies, sabotage, advanced technology. Manipulating and supporting other states into fighting their enemies while deploying a relatively weak army and navy to maximum effect in pre-emptive strikes. This was a hallmark of the English nation state under Elizabeth Tudor, Queen of England 1588-1603 CE._

 _This doctrine successfully helped defend the smaller nation state against the largest and most powerful nation state on Earth at the time, the Spanish Empire. It also successfully planted the seeds of the growth that would allow England's successor state, Great Britain, to seize that title in 1815. Britain would hold it undisputedly until 1918 and then jointly with the USA until 1944 CE._

 _The asari military doctrine is one of hit and run attacks, constantly denying the enemy the chance to make use of captured territory while forcing up the political cost of the war with the prestige loss and casualties from each raid. Occupying forces have no choice but to spread themselves thinly, guarding everything as heavily as they can. Then, the asari destroy those guard units which drains the strength of the enemy forces with each loss until they are compelled to make one of three unpalatable choices. Withdraw completely, bleed to death by a thousand cuts, or try to continue to occupy asari territory as they are reduced, squad by squad, to a size where they can be destroyed by the asari in a traditional battle._

 _This doctrine has been used by many small Earth nation states to defeat larger ones. Specific examples include first and second Anglo-Afghan wars (Emirate of Afghanistan vs British Empire 1839-1842 and 1878-1880 CE) the Soviet-Afghan war (Emirate of Afghanistan vs Soviet Union 1979-1989) the first Indochina war (Viet Minh vs French Empire 1946-1954) and the Vietnam war (Viet Cong vs United States 1955-1975 CE)._

 _In each case a nation state that was one of the weakest on Earth forced a superpower nation state to withdraw its armies and fail in its strategic objectives. Both maintaining their independence and causing the attacking superpower a massive loss of prestige, equipment, money and manpower._

 _The turian military doctrine of shock, overwhelming firepower and fast manoeuvre is known to the humans as 'Blitzkrieg' or 'Lightning War'. The most famous use of this tactic was by the nation state of Nazi Germany in the second world war (1937-1945 CE: Eastern Theatres / 1939-1945 CE: Western Theatres)._

 _Though this nation state was (thankfully) unsuccessful in its war, the turian doctrine allowed it to defeat in only 4 weeks the regional power of Poland. Following that victory, in the offensive next spring it took only 6 weeks for it to defeat the combined armies of the two superpower nation states, Britain and France. These 'Allied' forces had both superior types and numbers of artillery, armour and aircraft, equivalent troop numbers, and the benefit of fixed fortifications. German casualties were 163,676 dead and wounded, Allied casualties were 2,260,000 dead, wounded and taken prisoner._

 _The Germans would meet with similar success in their use of turian military doctrine against the Soviet Union in their spring 1941 CE attack. However, the vast endurance capacity of the Soviet Union and the constant supplies of military hardware from Britain and the USA allowed them to survive and push back, eventually destroying Nazi Germany with the armies of the other 'Allied' nations. It was this failure of blitzkrieg on the defence that forced Alliance planners to re-evaluate human military doctrine upon setting up the Systems Alliance army._

* * *

 _Codex Entry: Humans – Human Military Doctrine (Defence), The Endurance Strategy_

 _(Citadel Codex, First Human SPECTRE Collector's Edition, 2183)_

* * *

 _It is only proper that the species with the most efficient heat removal system of any known species should chose endurance as the core of its defensive military strategy. Humans are the race that can engage in personal combat for the longest time, simply surviving will guarantee victory as turian, asari and salarian opponents succumb to heat exhaustion long before humans if not given time to rest and cool. Human history has proven this concept works at the nation state level as well as the personal one. This defence in depth endurance strategy was decided upon by Alliance planners due to the outcome of the last three major wars fought by humanity._

 _In the Napoleonic Wars the aggressor nation state was the French Empire. Despite multiple military victories, conquests, and peace treaties, the French Empire was defeated due to its main opponents, Britain and Russia, refusing to accept defeat. Britain's naval blockade and repeated invasions of French occupied territory was combined with Russian willingness to sacrifice territory and lives in huge quantities to overstretch the French supply lines and drown their armies in blood. Together, they outlasted the French Empires ability to continue the war. Despite its lightning start the Napoleonic Wars became wars of attrition, and those who could endure economic, territorial, military and civilian losses for the longest won._

 _The First World War, despite its lightning start, saw the attackers eventually resort to slow, grinding attacks. Such methods have been totally rejected by Alliance planners for the invasions of other worlds. However, like the Napoleonic Wars before it, World War One again became a war of attrition. Russia could not endure the economic or military losses for as long as Germany and so Germany won the war in the east due to the economic collapse of the Russian Empire and the mutiny of its army._

 _The Central Powers however, could not endure longer than the Triple Entente as a whole with the addition of Italy and the USA to the alliance. The Central Powers collapsed and lost the war as despite the immense damage and cost of the war being borne by their enemies as it was fought almost entirely on the Triple Entente's territory. Despite the defeat of 1/3_ _rd_ _of the original alliance, the Triple Entente were able to sustain the economic, military and civilian losses longer as well as the territorial losses and thus crushed the Central Powers._

 _In the Second World War, the blitzkrieg of the Germans and the lightning surprise attacks of the Japanese had the Allies reeling and staring down almost certain defeat. However, the ability of the Allied nations, especially Britain, China, and later Russia, to endure and continue to fight when all hope of victory seemed lost ensured total defeat for the Axis powers._

 _The mighty blitzkrieg armies were unable to deal with the replacement of every division or ship they destroyed with two more. Overwhelmed, they lost air superiority and with it their ability to mass and manoeuvre without coming under vicious air attack. Unable to move without constantly taking casualties, eventually they collapsed and lost the war. The blitzkrieg armies were not able to defeat enemies that had the will to absorb any cost and continue fighting no matter what. Combined with the defences to buy them time while the German armies exhausted themselves trying to break through, the Allies and Soviet endurance carried the day._

 _These wars formed the basis of the human military doctrine, if the navy is defeated then they will use the endurance strategy to defend their worlds and bleed the attacking force white. (Humans turn white when their bodies are drained of their red blood). Then, when their enemy is exhausted, they will go on the offensive with blitzkrieg. Smashing enemy worlds with speed, firepower and manoeuvre as the turians do. If the enemy manages to withstand their ground attacks, then the humans deploy the oldest and most used weapon in their arsenal. The burning of all enemy food sources and the total blockade of enemy positions both military and civilian. It is known to humans simply as 'siege warfare' and it is the ultimate test of endurance._

* * *

 **Timeline Changes So Far**

 _First colony on mars: 27 years earlier than canon_

 _Discovery of Prothean ruins: 64 years earlier than canon_

 _Founding of the Systems Alliance (council of nations version): 63 years earlier than canon_

 _The First Contact War: 45 years earlier than canon_


	6. Chapter 6

_Standard disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect, nor any other content that you recognise. Some characters and systems are original creations. I am receiving no money for my work._

* * *

 **London – Earth**

 **2017.10.28**

* * *

 _I made a tumblr for this story. The fourth council race dot tumblr dot com. On there you will find things that I am going to try and describe without taking up too many words in the story. It currently has two maps that I have made of the area of space surrounding Earth, along with a more detailed look at the shirt sleeve garden world colony/city design. I bastardised Atlantis from stargate atlantis for the ground footprint of the city. As more chapters get posted I will post other things as well._

 _I am going to resist posting my large number of spreadsheets that tell me everything from planet population through time to a specific ships length and firepower. That way you guys won't notice when I have to change something because it didn't make sense as the story progressed. Numbers are the key to realism, currently every chapter has needed a new spreadsheet so that I have realistic numbers. This one was figuring out the impact of a 4 kg kinetic rod from various launchers along with its death/crippling injury/destruction/severe damage blast radius from each impact strength to allow the turians the orbital strikes from cannon without also breaching the cannon Citadel ban on bombarding garden worlds -.-_

 _Right on we go, I hope you guys like the next few chapters. Army scale ground battles are the things I find most difficult to write currently so I hope the way I have done it is ok._

* * *

 **Qinghai – Shanxi**

 **The journal of Lt. General Jack Williams**

 **2112.10.01**

* * *

 _It is sunrise above ground and as much as I wish I could see it, instead I thank God that the defences are complete. The Alliance policy is that a city's maginot line must be completed before it is allowed to grow beyond 1 million people, I only wish I had the soldiers to man the defences. They were designed to be held by an army corps and I have only a single division under my command, dam the general staff for requiring 4 million inhabitants before increasing the garrison to a corps._

 _I am 332,000 men short of what I need to man the line properly, if it were not for my faith that God would not give me an unachievable task I would think our defeat was simply a matter of time. I have taken as many steps as I can to maximise my manpower, the catering, logistics, and non-weapon maintenance duties throughout Qinghai's maginot line are now being performed by civilian volunteers. Even if they are logistics officers that haven't held a weapon since basic training I still need all of my soldiers on the front line._

 _The police are guarding the shelter entrances, the armed response squad officers are giving the normal police officers a crash course in firearms while we wait for the enemy attack. I hate to press them into potential combat duty when the vast majority have no weapons training, but I have no choice. I have no men to spare for rear-guard duties, the thin line of Alliance blue is that is all that stands between these invaders and the 882,920 colonists who came to this city to make Shanxi their home. Trusting the Systems Alliance, trusting us, to protect them. The navy has failed, the army must not let them down._

 _My two infantry brigades are garrisoning the line, I have rearranged them into two shifts of twelve hours each. It will be tough on the soldiers, but I need to cover for the four missing infantry brigades. The lines fort and bunker guns thankfully have slave circuits for situations like these, one gun in a section can be ordered to simply copy the target selection of its manned neighbour. It is far from ideal but with the garrison at only 1/3_ _rd_ _strength it will most likely be the difference between victory and defeat in the fight ahead._

 _The 6,000 marines I have recalled from all the ships in this cluster will be integral to the defence plan, there are far fewer of them than the 55,000 soldier army infantry brigade I would prefer, but they have always boasted that their training made them worth 10 soldiers. We will see in the coming days if those boasts are empty rhetoric. They arrived just after the evacuation of the villages and towns were completed, there should be no one left outside the city limits now. Everyone should be safe in the shelter network as long as my forces can defend the city._

 _The aliens orbital fire has destroyed the entire centre of the colony and all of its traditional buildings and still it continues, were we and the civilians above ground it would be devastating to morale and combat readiness. As it is, safe below ground in the maginot line and the shelters, all of this destruction is simply fuelling the fire of defiance both in my soldiers and in the civilians._

 _Personally, as much as it pains me to see Qinghai's forbidden city and her pagoda's destroyed, the destruction of the cathedral, the mosque, the synagogue and the temples has been worse. Ancestral, Buddhist, Hindu, Taoist, Confucian, Muslim, Christian and Jewish alike, their destruction has been much more devastating for a man of God like myself. It has been a constant battle the last two days to follow the Popes directive not to hate the alien, to remember that they are children of God as well. I hope that I will still be able to follow it at the end of this invasion._

 _They have not targeted the main spaceport, so I still have the faint hope that they will land there and the explosives my engineers have placed will be able to destroy their first wave along the with port. It is a very faint hope, their bombardment has been thorough and professional despite their view of civilians as legitimate targets. As much as I wish them to do so, I do not think that they will fall for that old trick._

 _I had hoped to write about the preparations of my own armoured brigade, we must somehow take the fight to the enemy without the two other armoured brigades that are supposed to be with us and I have had some ideas, but the sensors have just shown the first enemy troopships entering the atmosphere._

 _It seems the wolf is at the door._

 _Pater noster, qui es in caelis_ , _sanctificetur nomen tuum_. _Adveniat regnum tuum_. _Fiat voluntas tua_ , _sicut in caelo, et in terra_. _Panem nostrum quotidianum da nobis hodie_ , _et dimitte nobis debita nostra_ , _sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris_. _Et ne nos inducas in tentationem_ , _sed libera nos a malo_.

 _Amen_.

* * *

 **Qinghai Outskirts – Shanxi**

 **2112.10.04**

* * *

General Vetra Sparatus was really beginning to hate this planet and its inhabitants. The memories of the last four days flooded back as she stared at the map in front of her, fighting off the feeling of apprehension as she reviewed her plan of attack.

Everything had been going so well at the start, Admiral Arterius had dispatched ships to the four station colonies to capture them. As expected, they had encountered resistance in their docking bays from the alien's garrison forces, so the navy had withdrawn and destroyed the life support systems of the space stations and technology dependant colonies. It seemed the prospect of suffocating and/or freezing to death focused the minds of this new species as well as it did the known ones and the four station colonies had soon surrendered. The civilian population had then been allowed to repair their life support systems once the garrison troops had laid down their weapons and marched into captivity.

Her good luck had seemed to be turning into a winning streak when the navy entered orbit of the class 1 and 2 colonies as neither world had any surface to space anti-orbital guns. Granted those sorts of guns were generally a waste of resources, they were almost always overwhelmed before they did significant damage to an attacking fleet, but several races used them to buy time.

The main thing they did was force the attacking ground forces to strike immediately and in predictable locations, not having her invasion strategy dictated by the need to capture or destroy the guns before a full landing could occur was a pleasant surprise. Enjoying the relative ease of the operation to that point she had approved Sub General Orinia's request to begin landing her troops in close proximity to the alien's dome colony. That was when things had started to go wrong.

Sub General Orinia had landed with her 100,000-strong sub legion on the moon of the gas giant close to the dome colony and had quickly punched through the defences around two of the entrances. Fighting through the docking and supply areas her forces had quickly broken through into the dome itself, but once inside they had found no resistance, just a city that appeared abandoned. Orinia's forces had advanced cautiously but they had only gone a dozen metres before the first snipers and artillery opened up, killing and wounding hundreds in the opening minutes as the inhabitants destroyed their own city to hit the invading forces.

It had been nothing but grinding urban warfare ever since, the nightmare of every turian general when on the attack. With the dome preventing accurate orbital strikes, even if General Orinia was prepared to endure the logistical nightmare that would be caused by her entire army fighting in sealed armour due to the unbreathable atmosphere flooding the dome through the punctures, her forces were forced to fight room by room.

The General's situation wasn't helped by enemy forces constantly using the sewer network and service tunnels to pop up in previously cleared areas and strike from the rear. Every heap of rubble, whether in front of their own lines or behind them, was a potential death trap for Orinia and her forces. As if that was not enough, the troops had encountered two hardpoint fortifications designed to look just like an ordinary building and the casualties inflicted by the defenders had been severe.

Spirits only knew how many more of them awaited Sub General Orinia's advancing forces, but they wouldn't find out any time soon. The advance had been painfully slow, in four days Orinia's forces had made it only a few hundred metres into the dome colony and the enemy resistance showed no signs of faltering.

General Sparatus's own battle on this class 1 garden world was not fairing any better.

In the beginning it had seemed to be a standard, even an easy attack. From orbit it was clear that only one area of the planet was currently inhabited, a city with small villages and what seemed to be a couple of partially built towns scattered around it in a circular area approximately 600 km in diameter with the city at its centre.

They were all abandoned, the population presumably having been evacuated to the city. The main space port, some 100 km away from the city, was abandoned as well but she wasn't falling for that old trick. She had bombarded the railway connection between the spaceport and the city and had left it for possible capture later.

The city itself was small, obviously just at the start of its life. There was a clear central area filled with open green space and what were probably historical building recreations based on their size and construction materials. Surrounding it, beginning to fill in the visible footprint of a six pointed star, were six 1 km tall archologies linked together with elevated walkways and plazas.

The plaza's and walkways were partially made of transparisteel and transparent crystal to allow light to filter through in rainbows to the ground below instead of blocking it out, showing this species valued art and appearance as much as functionality in its cities. Two parks and two lakes seemed to be under construction in four of the voids between the spokes of the star.

The remaining two voids seemed to be taken up by two small space ports, but the archologies had what appeared to be heavy anti-air emplacements on their roofs making a lightning assault on them impossible even if she was prepared to risk a similar booby trap as that which was no doubt awaiting her at the main spaceport. At the end of the footprint for each spoke was a 10 story high fort with a heavy artillery emplacement and four heavy anti-air emplacements each.

Adding these emplacements firepower to the ones on the top of the archologies, the city was a death trap for any form of aircraft that the defenders didn't like. Together they provided total anti-air coverage of the city and the surrounding area and several could be destroyed or disabled before gaps started to appear in that total coverage. Encircling the city was a line of small hills, approximately 1 km in width and 250 km long in total. Some were natural, and others were obviously artificial, but the most interesting thing was that the valleys and routes through the line all appeared to be guarded by forts. The analysts had only spotted them due to their gun emplacements and firing bells being above ground, the majority of each fort was buried deep in the hills.

General Sparatus remembered laughing at the realisation that the primitives thought that a set of small hills could stop an invader, even if they did encircle the entire city and had forts built into them. That laughter hadn't lasted past the first day. Following her targeting criteria, the navy had begun the orbital strikes as she brought her troopships down well outside the enemy's anti-air net.

Turian warships were equipped with multiple launching systems on their ventral surfaces that launched 4 kg kinetic rods, impacting with a force of 0.4 tons of TNT, 1.7 tons, and 3.9 tons from frigates, cruisers and dreadnoughts respectively. Admiral Arterius's cruisers had rained down their kinetic strikes all day and with a blast radius of 52m from their kinetic rods, suddenly 104 m diameter craters had begun appearing all over the primitive's colony.

The targeting criteria had prioritised the centre of the city and one of the archology's, a standard tactic to attempt to demoralise the civilian population and cause them to force their military to surrender without turian forces even having to commit to a ground attack. Just in case these civilians were more stubborn than the population of the station colonies, General Sparatus had also targeted all of the anti-air forts and the visible gun emplacements in the line of hills, to let the military know that they were beaten and she could just pound them into dust from orbit, encouraging them to listen to the civilian demands for surrender.

After a full day of bombardment to produce enough shock and disruption to the defenders, the centre of the city had been reduced to flames and rubble littered with craters, as expected. The high plazas and walkways linking the archologies together had disintegrated under the kinetic strikes as well, shattering and falling to the ground in a rain of metal shrapnel and crystal shards. But that was where it ended.

To the utter surprise of her, her officers, the navy officers, and the Admiral, the archology was untouched, defended with a kinetic barrier. This wasn't impossible, the archologies were only 1 km high, the length of a modern dreadnought, and the barriers were only frigate grade, but still. No one, not even the asari used kinetic barriers to defend entire skyscrapers from orbital kinetic strikes, those that had the defensive mindset either didn't use archologies, didn't have the eezo, or didn't have a strong enough economy to pay for it.

As the dust had continued to clear the General had felt her apprehension grow. The anti-air forts were protected by cruiser grade kinetic barriers and had suffered no damage at all while the visible gun emplacements in the fortified hill line had been constructed using what seemed to be frigate grade armour. The day of kinetic strikes had dented them, but that was about all that they had achieved. That armour was designed to take a glancing blow frigates main gun without failing, which meant that given that a turian frigates main gun hit with a firepower of 5.4 kilotons of TNT on a direct hit, no artillery she had, ground or orbital based, was going to do more than dent the alien's forts.

The warship grade kinetic barriers defending the anti-air forts and the civilian archologies prevented her ground or orbital forces from having even that limited effect on them which had narrowed her possible attack method options drastically. The only thing that would allow her to destroy the archologies and the military installations from outside return fire range would be firing the main guns of the navy's warships at them, but that was in direct violation of one of the strongest Citadel Conventions, ie: Do not bombard garden class worlds whatever the reason.

If she broke that law she would be vilified for all eternity by every inhabitant of citadel space, and so would everyone under her command.

General Sparatus had promptly banned anyone from referring to the aliens as primitives and had begun pouring over the scan and reconnaissance data with a great deal more caution while the forward operating base continued to be constructed around her, well outside the enemy's projected artillery range.

While this was ongoing she had dispatched a small force under Captain Desolas Arterius to capture the alien's main spaceport. As expected it had promptly exploded on his arrival, once he had proved that he was not going to obligingly walk into the middle of it, but Captain Arterius had conducted a thorough search of the surviving warehouses, the rail terminal and the surrounding area. He had come back two days later with some form of artefact that he had found in one of the less damaged warehouses, apparently it was completely different to the local alien's technology, it was ancient in fact.

The Captain had speculated that the locals had most likely found it here on this garden world at some point since their arrival or had found it elsewhere during their exploration of the surrounding systems in this cluster. Regardless as to how the aliens had found it, Captain Arterius was now on a frigate taking it back to the Hierarchy for study with strict orders to be very vague as to how it was found until this situation was dealt with and became public knowledge.

A team of local mercenaries had apparently been guarding it. An appalling dereliction of duty on their part, to be sticking to a contract rather than helping their army at a time like this. This was the main reason why she was willing to believe Desolas's assertion that they were mercenaries when no one could actually ask them because they still didn't speak the enemy's language.

Desolas had taken all three of the mercenaries to Palaven with the artificat, in case they had information that would be useful when they knew how to interrogate them. His father had extracted a very detailed and convincing promise for him to be careful with that artefact before giving him a frigate to take the ancient artefact and the prisoners back to the Hierarchy for study.

They had been dispatched last night, just after the last of the supply ships had finished ferrying the Legions supplies down from the orbiting supply ships. Now with the sunrise the turian base had turned into a hive of activity as armour, artillery, vehicles and troops martialled into their respective units.

General Sparatus took one last look at the map in her office before sealing her helmet and heading to her Command APC. The enemies defence line would be broken by sunset if they responded as every other race did to turian attacks. The doubt and apprehension continued to form a knot in her stomach, as it had done since the dust from her bombardment cleared at the end of the first day to reveal negligible damage to the alien city.

The turian in her had total confidence in victory, there was no other outcome for the Hierarchy army. The General in her was deeply concerned what the defenders had in store for her next, she had a feeling this was going to be one of the hardest fights of her career.

* * *

 _Codex Entry: Humans – Human Military Doctrine, Implementing the Endurance Strategy_

 _(Citadel Codex, First Human SPECTRE Collector's Edition, 2183)_

* * *

 _While keeping it as its offensive doctrine, the Alliance Army rejected the blitzkrieg doctrine for defensive warfare since it relied on air, and now orbital, superiority. (Indeed, obtaining orbital superiority is the first objective of turian military doctrine). This was believed to be a terminal flaw as the army would not see combat unless the navy had been defeated and had lost at least orbital superiority._

 _Even if they were able to keep fighting and deny the enemy orbital supremacy, they had still been beaten badly enough to let enemy troops on the planet's surface to engage the Alliance army in combat, which meant the army formations were exposed to orbital fire._

 _While the army's offensive tactics remained the standard blitzkrieg that had proven so effective, it was treated with contempt and derision by the nation states armies for choosing defensive tactics that were seen as nearly 200 years out of date, and that even then had been created by armies that were referred to as 'Lions lead by Donkeys.' The vindication of the endurance defensive strategy and the Alliance Army's method of implementing it in the first contact war catapulted the Alliance army to the most prestigious of the human armies._

 _The nation states armies entered a tailspin once it was proven that fighting defensively in the 'modern' way, the way that nation states had done since World War Two would have resulted in a turian victory in only four days. They would suffer recruitment problems for the remainder of their existences._

 _When creating the Endurance Strategy, the Alliance army concluded that any massing of mobile assets such as tanks and motorized infantry would be subjected to orbital kinetic strikes and destroyed before it could enter battle. This left them needing a strategy for defending their colonies that was designed to withstand orbital kinetic strikes._

 _Alliance planners decided to discount the idea of creating a defence for an enemy using nuclear warheads after the destruction of anti-air defences or bombarding the planet's surface with the main guns of their warships. These were deemed impossible to defend against, and if faced with such an opponent the colony would either be forced to surrender to prevent a wholescale massacre of its civilian population or hunker down in the civilian shelters and concentrate on surviving and awaiting rescue from off planet forces._

 _The planners based their designs on orbital kinetic strikes of 1-44 tons of TNT as the largest bomb in existence at that time, the USA's MOAB, produced a 44 t explosion. For comparison, the main gun of a modern Alliance frigate produces a 2.4 kt explosion (2,400 t). Alliance warships are equipped with kinetic rod launching systems that allow them to fire 6 kg rods creating explosions ranging from 0.3 t (frigate) to 14.2 t (dreadnought) in support of their invading ground troops blitzkrieg._

 _With their unique vulnerabilities and restrictions, it was decided to use the Stalingrad method of defensive warfare to defend dome colonies, it was seen as viable as, due to the surface being uninhabitable outside the domes, all of the fighting would be restricted to within the dome where armour and motorized infantry would be more of a hinderance to an attacking force than a help and the dome would prevent enemy orbital strikes from hitting with any accuracy even if they were willing to puncture it in the first place._

 _Shirt sleeve colonies were seen as much more difficult to defend due to the wide spread of the colonies and the unlimited room to manoeuvre. Deciding to look to the last time a war was conducted under the threat of heavy artillery bombardment, the planners studied the first world war and the years immediately after it. Finally, they came upon the linchpin of their colonial defence strategy. The Maginot Line._

 _Much derided due to its ineffectiveness in protecting France from German attack, this failure was in fact due to the strategic planning failures and tactical manoeuvring failures of the French Command rather than any deficiencies of the Maginot Line itself. Over 450 kilometres long, the Maginot Line was a line of major underground forts forming strong points, between which were smaller forts filling in the gaps between their fields of fire and multiple small one-man to five-man fortifications to engage any skirmishers who were too small in number to be targeted by the main guns of the forts._

 _Underground barracks and railways kept the troops safe and allowed them to man the forts without fear of artillery. There was no wall to stop an attacking force that fought its way passed the guns, that was not the intention of the line. Rather it was supposed to slow any attack to allow friendly forces time to rush to the area and counter attack. Immune to air and artillery attack it was the perfect ground-based defence against the blitzkrieg doctrine, nullifying the shock and speed that were two of the three requirements critical to a blitzkrieg attacks success._

 _This is why the German attacks of 1940 CE completely bypassed the Maginot Line rather than trying to punch through and why the Italians proved completely incapable of breaching the Alpine 'Little Maginot' Line on France's southern border where there was no possible way around._

 _Considering that the 188 km M25 orbital motorway encircles Greater London, an area that had a population of 9 million in 2016 CE and 14.8 million in 2112 CE it was decided that all shirt sleeve Alliance colonies would have their major cities encircled by a 1 km thick by 250 km long Maginot line, 200 km shorter than the original._

 _With adequate underground military facilities, major air defences put throughout the area to prevent the bypassing of the line by air, above ground green space for the cities inhabitants to enjoy and the population housed in space efficient arcologies approximately 1 km high, this would allow the city to grow to a size of approximately 80 million people before a new city would need to be constructed._

 _As the city of Beijing managed to house 20 million people in a similar space with no building over 200 m tall in 2016 CE, this was deemed to be an acceptable balance between the defensive fortifications required and the limitations that those fortifications placed on the city's ability to grow. It should be noted that on more developed garden worlds, an increasing percentage of the population chooses to live outside of the cities in small towns and villages._

 _These are bereft of military protection and the inhabitants must use the rail links to evacuate to the cities as quickly as possible in the event of an attack. In 2112, 90% of the non-sol Alliance population lived in cities. By 2183 and the attack on Eden Prime, the increasing security of the garden worlds in the Alliance's core systems had dropped that figure to 70%._

 _These defence systems were put to the test for the first time when an entire turian army legion invaded the human worlds of Shanxi and Zapala in the first contact war._

* * *

 _Codex Entry: Humans – Alliance Colonial Guard Garrisons_

 _(Citadel Codex, First Human SPECTRE Collector's Edition, 2183)_

* * *

 _The Alliance policy is that the defences of each dome must be completed before colonists are allowed to move in, similarly when colonising a garden world, a city will form the nexus for each region of the planet colonised. Its defences must be completed before it is allowed to exceed 1 million inhabitants. The Alliance assigns garrisons to a world based on its class and its population size._

 _After the First Contact War (Relay 314 Incident) These garrisons are made up of colonial guard soldiers rather than army soldiers._

 _ **Station Colony 20,000:**_ _The garrison force for these colonies are Platoons (256 soldiers). A Lieutenant is the CO_

 _ **Station Colony 20,000-100,000:**_ _The garrison force for these colonies are Companies (1,024 soldiers). A Captain is the CO_

 _ **Station Colony 100,000-200,000:**_ _The garrison force for these colonies are Cohorts (3,072 soldiers). A Major is the CO_

 _ **Station Colony 200,000:**_ _The garrison force for these colonies are Battalions (6,144 soldiers). A Lieutenant Colonel is the CO_

 _ **Arcturus Station:**_ _Arcturus is garrisoned by a Regiment (18,432 soldiers). A Colonel is the CO_

 _ **Dome Colony 1 Million:**_ _The garrison force for these colonies are Brigades (55,296 soldiers). A Brigadier General is the CO_

 _ **Dome Colony 1-4+ Million:**_ _The garrison force for these colonies are Divisions (165,888 soldiers). A Lieutenant General is the CO. Each additional domed city gets a brigade garrison until it passes the 1 million mark, where it's garrison is upgrade to a division._

 _ **Shirt Sleeve Colony 4 Million:**_ _The garrison force for these colonies are Divisions (165,888 soldiers). A Lieutenant General is the CO_

 _ **Shirt Sleeve Colony 4 Million – 80 Million:**_ _The garrison force for these colonies are Corps (497,664 soldiers). A Captain General is the CO_

 _ **Shirt Sleeve Colony 80 Million:**_ _The garrison force for these colonies are 1 Corps for each city of 40 million in habitants. An army consists of 3-5 corps, a General is the CO_

 _For codex users concerned about the large size of these formations. A more detailed explanation can be found in the army order of battle and ranks entries in chapters 7-9 of this codex._

* * *

 _Seeing how the turians fight exactly the same as we do today in cannon (except with a more callous attitude to civilians) and how easily our current method of blitzkrieg ground warfare falls apart when you lose air superiority (the Alliance fights that way in canon and gets pounded into oblivion by turian orbital fire) I came up with my own mix based on history and the demonstrated deficiencies of our current method of warfare when your enemy has a vastly more powerful air force (see most battles fought against the US army and air force since 1945)_

 _Last note, Ouvrage Hackenburg is the largest fort on the Maginot Line and is open to the public with tours in many different languages. If you find yourself near the French/German border you will not find a more fascinating place to visit! Very reasonably priced as well._

* * *

 **Timeline Changes So Far**

 _First colony on mars: 27 years earlier than canon_

 _Discovery of Prothean ruins: 64 years earlier than canon_

 _Founding of the Systems Alliance (council of nations version): 63 years earlier than canon_

 _The First Contact War: 45 years earlier than canon_


	7. Chapter 7

_Standard disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect, nor any other content that you recognise. Some characters and systems are original creations. I am receiving no money for my work._

* * *

 **Overage Hackenburg – Shanxi**

 **2112.10.04**

* * *

2nd Lieutenant Marcel Styles kept his eyes on the targeting system for the anti-tank gun he was manning.

Overage Hackenburg was one of the large forts on the line, under the command of Major Oleg Petrovsky. Various emplacements held artillery guns for plunging fire on advancing enemy troops and vehicles as well as counter battery artillery fire, while direct fire anti-tank guns and machine guns protected the fort from a direct attack by any vehicles and troops that made it through the artillery barrages.

Along with the two smaller forts to either side, Redoubt St Claire and Redoubt Colmar, they formed a withering field of fire for an enemy to have to break through to breach this section of the line.

Marcel focused on his targeting display. Troops were not his concern, he was responsible for making sure that no enemy tanks punched through, and if possible to hit enemy APCs before they could unload their troops as well. Soldiers were the responsibility of the Overage and Redoubts machine guns, and the men and machine guns in the small Casemate bunkers scattered between the three forts.

Marcel lifted his glasses and tried to rub the sleep from his eyes. The garrison had been pulling 12 hr shifts rather than the 8 hrs that they were supposed to, and it had been taking its toll. Now the alert had sounded and brought his entire unit to their guns far earlier than they had expected.

As if they had read his mind the voice of one of his comrades came over the internal comm system. "I thought they weren't supposed to be here yet? Didn't it take a week for us to set up a FOB in training?"

"I guess these guys really love speed." Marcel answered, hoping that speed equalled mistakes and poor contingency planning. Nervous, shy and clumsy, they certainly did for him when he tried to do things quickly, he had nearly flunked out of the academy because of it.

"Let's hope their slower off the mark in their attacks otherwise we'll need a miracle to hold them." Marcel frowned at the pessimistic comment but decided not to call up the offending private on it. It was true that the Overage still had its full firepower, but with half the guns unmanned and slaved to the manned ones it could only engage half the targets it was designed to. Which would be a problem if they rushed the defences as the private had rightly pointed out.

"If we need a miracle then it's a good job the Generals a member of the God Squad, maybe that'll get us one."

"Or he'll get us all killed 'cause he's praying for one instead of planning."

"Your just sore because their aint no atheists in foxholes!"

Marcel groaned and dreaded Major Petrovsky exploding at the openly expressed doubt in General Williams, shutting down any pre-battle conversation and making the soldiers resent their officers for a few minutes. Which wouldn't be a problem if they weren't going to be in battle in a few minutes, leaving them with nothing to do before then but nurse resentment at the officers who's orders they were going to have to follow was not Marcel's idea of good pre-battle planning. Not when the other option was simply to think about the forces heading towards them with unknown capabilities and firepower. He quickly hit his com unit hoping to beat the Major. "Except for me."

"And me."

"And me!"

"Another one over here."

"And here."

"Count me in."

"Technically we are in a fort, not foxholes."

"SHUT UP FERRETTI!"

Marcel grinned as the garrison yelled in unison at its most pedantic member, just as he had planned. He knew Ferretti wouldn't be able to resist and the rest of the unit would pick him up on the pedantic comment. Crisis averted, though he might face more trouble disciplining the more fervent religious types now, one problem solved, another created, but at least the new one could wait until after the battle.

Marcel ran his fingers through his brown hair and reverted to his usual state, worrying. He had a half a dozen religions in his unit and ten nationalities without a problem, but there were a handful who weren't just religious, they were god squad types. It was a fault line that could break his authority and divide the unit if he handled it wrong, so he resolved to consult with Master Sergeant Adams about it after the battle, the sergeant always knew what to do.

Marcel shivered as an awful prediction flittered across his mind. Humanity could fracture along religious as well as political fault lines if the enemy knew what they were doing with their propaganda and psychological warfare. Especially if the religious and political fault lines reinforced each other. It had happened so many times throughout human history during wartime, and the new Systems Alliance was to young, barely 26 years old. It didn't yet command the loyalty of a nation state and if the aliens found out about the fault lines running through it, even if they didn't maybe they just had to apply enough pressure and…

"Stop worrying lieutenant." Marcel spoke the words to himself, but he heard Sergeant Adams saying them in his head. He focused instead on his targeting display, busying himself making sure it was perfectly calibrated and ready to fire with maximum accuracy and effectiveness on a moment's notice.

"Pay attention soldiers! Enemy forces sighted, time to artillery range is 17 mins." Major Petrovsky's calm professional tones caused silence to fall over the forts comm system as they watched their sensors and targeting instructions from fire control.

"What the fuck?!" Marcel exclaimed in horror as his targeting display went crazy, judging from similar exclamations from over the comm system his wasn't the only one.

"Command this is Hackenburg Actual confirming total failure of the laser rangefinders and targeting systems." Major Petrovsky's voice was calm and collected and Marcel felt a little of the panic subside. "Hackenburg sector, switch to the mechanical targeting system and await further instructions from fire control."

There was silence as the Overage, the Redoubts and the Casemates all switched over to the older targeting methods, with fire control feeding them data from their backup mechanical rangefinders and observation posts.

"All soldiers be aware, orbiting ships are conducting bombing runs with their guardian laser point defence arrays. The atmospheric scattering is preventing them from even giving you a sunburn, but the remaining power is more than enough to overwhelm the receivers of our laser-based systems given their sensitivity. All laser guided missiles are ineffective, missile batteries are to launch heat seekers and radar homing only. Do not waste ammunition. Attacks confirmed at the 12, 4, and 8 o'clock positions on the line, reserves will be deployed when it is confirmed whether this is truly a three-pronged assault or if two of the attacks are merely feints. Command out." General Williams's voice was confident.

Marcel defiantly wasn't confident as he gripped the controls of his gun tighter. The enemy General was proving disturbingly competent, they had already jammed their opponents most efficient targeting and range finding systems. In doing so, not only had they made the lines artillery and anti-tank fire more inaccurate, but they had turned two thirds of the missiles they would have had to face into paperweights. All without firing a shot from their own ground forces yet. As if that wasn't enough, they were attacking in three locations, splitting the already limited reserve forces and preventing the undermanned garrison from concentrating in one location. These were not the incompetent aliens of games or movies.

A grating sound echoed throughout the fort as the semi-circular, retractable, dual artillery turrets raised themselves out of the ground and turned to face the enemy. Then, after a moment of quiet, Hackenburg sector rang with the sound of its Overage's and Redoubt's artillery firing in unison. The battle had begun.

* * *

 **Qinghai Outskirts – Shanxi**

 **2112.10.04**

* * *

Lt. Colonel Mustafa Kamal hurtled along the underground rail and road network that linked the armoured brigade barracks and the flak towers to the Maginot Line. He glanced back at the train, and the 2,000 grim faced marines riding it before hitting the private marine commanders comm channel.

"How's that lovely Buddhist sense of order dealing with this cluster fuck Sanders?" he growled into the comm.

Lt. Colonel Katherine Sanders sounded serene as she responded. "Everything is under control, we are all marines and this is no different to the planetary invasions we conducted in advanced training."

"Except we are on the defence, we're a ramshackle collection of ships marine compliments rather than a dedicated marine assault force, we only have 6,000 marines rather than the 10,000 assault force we trained for and, oh yes! Instead of being lead into battle by four colonels and a brigadier we're being led by three Lt. Colonels one of which is a field promoted major. Allah have mercy on us." Lt. Colonel Kemal kept his voice low, but the undertone of tension and worry was easily heard by his friend and colleague.

Katherine responded quietly. "Act as if thou have faith, and faith shall be given to you, it's what I'm doing."

"Fake it till you make it? Why Katherine, I never expected that from you." Mustafa grinned, despite everything.

"That's why keep losing to me whenever the squadrons meet up and we get to play poker. I should thank you, I got another lovely jade buddha with my winnings last month." Katherine was speaking at normal volume again, letting the friendly ribbing be heard by her marines.

"Women buy jewellery, marines buy alcohol, but Katherine Sanders buys jade buddhas. Some things never change." Mustafa Kamal smiled for the first time as the pulled into the station for Hackenburg sector. He signalled his marines to get off the train and to head to their pre-assigned sally ports.

"Take care in your sector, alright Katherine?"

"I'm a marine, no promises. But try and come back alive yourself Mustafa, alright?"

"Alright."

The sound of gunfire echoed through the complex as the marines ran to the small, well secured, sally ports leading to the surface. Artillery, anti-tank and heavy machine guns fired constantly, which meant that there was no shortage of targets for them to aim at. Some marines looked worried and gripped their weapons tightly, others stood tall and confident, seeing the constant firing only as a sign of a target rich environment. Still more grinned, relishing the challenge of saving the army from being overrun.

Lt. Colonel Kamal took a moment to kiss his crescent moon and star necklace and ask Allah for protection for his marines, then he switched his comm to general broadcast. "Go go go!"

At Mustafa's order sally ports opened all over Hackenburg sector, and two thousand Alliance marines charged straight into hell.

* * *

 **Overage Hackenburg – Shanxi**

 **2112.10.04**

* * *

2nd Lieutenant Styles gave a growl of satisfaction as another spikey hovertank went up in flames after he hit it for the fourth time.

It seemed that these alien's vehicle kinetic barriers were much stronger than expected – just like the ones on their ships – it was taking 3 hits from his gun and its slaved counterpart to batter them down. Thankfully, the enemy hadn't had it all their own way. They had launched wave after wave of bunker buster missiles from vehicles, supplemented by ones from their fighters that were staying just outside of the anti-air nets range. But both sets of missiles had run into a wall of chaff, flares, CIWS radar aimed point defence guns and the anti-missile missile batteries, preventing most from impacting.

Another enemy missile wave came in only to be diverted or knocked out of the sky by small friendly missiles and streams of tracer fire from the point defence guns. Only 6 made it through and the comms briefly broadcast the screams of the soldiers in the gun emplacements that had been hit before they dropped off the net. Their heavy armour was no match for missiles specifically designed to breach it.

Marcel yelled in surprise, anger and fear as his gun emplacement rang from a direct hit. The noise was unbelievable and left his ears ringing as dust fell from the ceiling. He growled as he grabbed his gun controls and checked his targeting display for the hovertank that had managed to get a shot off at him.

Thankfully the enemy hovertanks guns weren't powerful enough to penetrate the forts defences in one hit, but if they were hit over and over again by the spiky tanks guns. Well, the silence from several firing bells was evidence that even the best armour couldn't hold out indefinitely.

He found the tank and cursed at the flickering range and speed readouts. Unable to penetrate the armour without multiple direct hits in succession – which left them very vulnerable to counter battery fire – the enemy artillery had switched to focusing its fire directly in front of all the large installations they could find, hoping to include the observation posts and rangefinder stations in their barrage through sheer numbers.

It had worked.

The constant explosions, shockwaves, smoke and fountains of earth from the impacts were disrupting the views of all the targeted installations, including the observation and rangefinder posts which made the targeting information pouring back to the forts guns intermittent at best. Marcel eyeballed the tank as best he could and fired, the rounds from his own and his slaved gun clipped the enemies rear quarter making its barriers flare.

"Casemate 27, you have enemy troops sneaking up on your right side." Marcel tried to warn his comrades of the group of dinobirds he had clocked as he fired again at the spikey hovertank that had finally stopped targeting him and taken evasive action instead.

"We know Lieutenant, but its only Charles and I left here now. We can't cover all sides." The fear in the Private's tone was audible even though he maintained professionalism and a steady stream of fire at the troops approaching from the front. Marcel shut down the comms, cursing, but there was nothing that he could do either. His weapons were useless against troops and there was far too much enemy armour out there for him to even think of using his guns to try and flyswatt them.

"Any machine guns that can help Casemate 27, do so if it does not compromise your own positions." Marcel ordered hoping that there was an emplacement under his command that could hit those dinobirds before they threw a grenade into the casemate and turned the two surviving privates into bloody chunks of meat.

He finally managed to blast the hovertank that had gotten the drop on him into flaming wreckage before claiming an APC that – unfortunately – seemed to have been able to unload its troops already. The success left a bitter taste in his mouth as none of the machine guns under his command had responded to his order, all of them were being overwhelmed themselves and changing targets to help Casemate 27 would see them receive grenades through their own firing slits instead.

Lieutenant Styles watched helplessly as the enemy forces creeped up on Casemate 27, they were almost close enough to successfully throw a grenade through one of the small firing ports now, it wouldn't be much longer but the stream of machine gun fire from the Casemate never let up. Not even for a moment.

The clanging of metal on rock distracted both him and the enemy troops. They froze as they looked to the source of the strange, unexpected noise.

The dinobirds were cut down as Alliance marines poured out of the Line's sally ports and caught hundreds of enemies in the open. The dinobirds trying to close in on the Casemates and the gun ports of the forts to use explosives and grenades were left completely exposed to any forces entering the battle from the sally ports, just as the designers had intended. The marines didn't stop for a moment and the surprised enemy infantry was left reeling and was pushed back, further and further down the hill and away from the forts firing bells and the Casemates which took the opportunity the reprieve offered to retarget in a way to best help the advancing marines before resuming firing.

The spikey enemy hovertanks raced forward, trying to protect their infantry which continued to stagger back down the hill under the enormous – and entirely unexpected – pressure from the newly arrived marines and the relieved machine gun nests. They began to gather around their APCs, trying to rally as the hovertanks ignored the Casemates, Redoubts and the Overage and instead fired anti-personnel grapeshot rounds directly into the partially exposed marines who were exacting such a bloody toll on their infantry.

That was when Alliance armour came over the brow of the hill, having travelled through the underground road network and exited through the vehicle doors at the fort entrance. Friendly tanks came charging down the hill – guns firing – and were even more of a surprise to the dinobirds than the marines had been.

The spiky hovertanks froze for a moment in total surprise and the charging Alliance tanks claimed dozens of casualties. Even as the enemy hovertanks began to recover and fight back the Alliance tanks had succeeded in their primary objective, preventing the enemy hovertanks from ripping through the partially exposed marines who had just pushed back their infantry and allowing them to keep up the pressure.

"Whoop Whoop!" Marcels cry of delight wasn't the only one over the comm as he refocused his gun on the enemy APCs, trying to maximise the damage per shot he was doing to the enemy army and stop their infantry from being able to regroup and regain cohesion.

The enemy armour advance slowed, then stopped, as Alliance armour slammed into their right and left flanks in a classic pincer, if the dinobird hovertanks continued to charge they would have to charge right at Overage Hackenburg, right into the kill zone of the guns from her and her two supporting Redoubts and the RPGs from the casemates and the marines. All while their flanks were mauled by inferior – but numerous and effective – Alliance tanks.

Slowly the spikey hovertanks of the enemy forces began to reverse at walking pace, their centre was still firing at the marines trying to make them keep their heads down and provide cover to the infantry that was running passed them to the waiting APCs. Marcel was taking great delight at picking the APCs off as soon as they stopped to pick up troops, while all the time the Alliance tanks continued to pour fire into the enemy armours flanks, leaving them fighting for their lives and unable to spare any fire to support their centre.

"Maintain counter battery fire on enemy artillery!" Major Petrovsky's command puzzled Marcel but he wasn't manning an artillery piece, so he ignored it. Whatever reason the Major had for stopping the artillery from firing on the enemy armour and infantry that continued to mass in a single location as they tried to regroup for another assault must be a good one, or else he would be court martialled for it.

Marcel noticed movement among the vehicles at the rear of the enemy formation and hit the comm to report what he had seen as quickly and calmly as he could. "Major, activity from enemy reserve armour! Unknown purpose, vehicle type has not engaged yet."

"Acknowledged. Maintain fire on current targets."

Marcel was worried, but he trusted Major Petrovsky. He kept firing until he heard the unmistakable scream of Alliance gunships. In horror he realised that those unknown vehicles must be the enemy AA defence, and the Major had ordered them ignored. Before he could reach for the comm, the distinctive sound of missile launches from the Overage's main missile banks reverberated through the tunnels.

Just as tracer fire began to stream from the spikey anti-air vehicles towards the incoming Alliance gunships, radar homing missiles launched from all three forts and sped straight towards their powerful sensor emissions. The enemy vehicles were like lighthouse beacons in the electronic world, lighting up the Alliance gunships for their targeting computers but screaming their presence to any form of sensor homing warhead as they did so.

Explosions blossomed along the rear of the enemy battle formation as many of the missiles slammed home, following the sensor emissions to their source at high speed before the enemy AA could switch targets or recognise the threat and shut down their targeting computers. The dinobirds would be expecting them next time, but for now they had taken out so many AA vehicles the Alliance forces didn't need a second salvo.

"Aren't they the most beautiful angels you ever saw lieutenant?"

"Fuck yes Ferretti!" Marcel screamed in jubilation as the gunships flew practically unmolested over the Line before releasing their payload. The battlefield lit up in roaring orange flames as napalm engulfed the dinobirds forces while they were trying to regroup for another assault.

"Command must have listened about their barriers being better, they might have survived cluster and shrapnel bombs, maybe even high explosives. But their infantry won't survive that." Major Petrovsky mused calmly over the comm channel.

Marcel wondered if it was wrong that he felt no sympathy for the thousands of aliens being burned alive right in front of him. Later he would probably feel terrible and puke his guts up at the thought of their deaths and how much pleasure he was taking in it, but right now….

"The dinobirds are retreating! Fire on anything with spikes, anyone we kill now is someone we don't have to kill tomorrow."

Marcel knew the voice giving that order was his own, but it seemed as if he was a thousand miles away from it. It didn't impact his performance on the gun while the enemy was in range, but as soon as they left and the targeting system faded to black….

2nd Lieutenant Marcel Styles gripped the controls of his gun till his knuckles turned white to stop his hands from shaking. The black screen reflected an image of his face that was almost as clear as the mirrors in the barracks. But all he could remember was the orange napalm fire, and the screams. He couldn't look his reflection in the eyes.

* * *

 _Codex Entry: Humans – The First Contact War (Relay 314 Incident)_ _Systems Alliance Army and Post FCW Colonial Guard_

 _(Citadel Codex, First Human SPECTRE Collector's Edition, 2183)_

* * *

 _The Alliance army officers of flag rank are known as Generals. It was the inevitable explosion in the number of these general officers required to command an army of the pre FCW Alliance army's size – if it continued to be organised along the lines of the existing nation states army's – that caused the creation of the pre FCW Alliance army (post FCW colonial guard.)_

 _The structure that the Systems Alliance developed to avoid this issue flipped the problem and made the pre FCW army / post FCW colonial guard bottom heavy instead. Pre FCW Alliance army officers (post FCW colonial guard officers) hold the distinction of being responsible for the greatest number of people for their rank of any branch of the Alliance military._

 _While a navy ensign will command a couple of dozen crewmen at most, a flying officer will be responsible only for himself, the marine corps doesn't use the OF0 rank at all, and a post FCW army 2_ _nd_ _lieutenant commands 24 soldiers including themselves. A pre FCW army (post FCW colonial guard) 2_ _nd_ _lieutenant commands 64 combat soldiers with the help of their master sergeant._

 _The colonial guard order of battle uses massive communications infrastructure and hard links, provided by the fixed defences, to successfully bypass the rule that the lowest officer rank should not command a unit of more than approximately 30 soldiers, while preventing the predicted massive increase in generals. This was instituted due to the fear that so many generals would cause command paralysis in any form of emergency._

 _The changes in unit sizes and roles assigned to the existing unit names caused derision, contempt and abuse to flow from the nation states armies – and traditionalists within the Alliance who were unable to let go of the past – all of them looking down on the pre FCW army officers, seeing them as more personnel manager than solider._

 _The First Contact War burned away those attitudes and that additional responsibility is now seen for the burden that it is. However, the dramatic failure of the army when removed from it's communications support and forced to go on the offensive made the structure untenable, despite how well it had performed defending Shanxi and Zapala from the turian attacks._

 _It was for this reason that after the First Contact War (Relay 314 Incident) the army was transformed into the purely defensive colonial guard, and a new army was designed incorporating the lessons of the war._

 _While the navy is still the Alliance senior service, today the unique challenges faced by colonial guard officers are known of and respected by the personnel of the other branches._

 _With peacetime deployment levels the Alliance is 3_ _rd_ _in terms of total ground troops under formal command structures in the Citadel races. The asari should place 2_ _nd_ _but their informal unit battle doctrine causes them to place 4_ _th_ _as, despite the actual total number of troops they can call on being higher than the humans and the salarians, many of their troops are private citizens who are simply affiliated with a local militia._

 _With wartime deployment levels the Alliance places 2_ _nd_ _, overtaking the Salarian Union's army in terms of pure numbers despite their higher population. Most Alliance generals are cautious about this estimate. As well as the cutting-edge tech issued to all salarian troops – boosting their effectiveness far beyond their numbers – the Alliance believes that, unlike their own and the turians, the salarians publicly available troop numbers and order of battle are not to be trusted._

* * *

 _Codex Entry: Humans – Systems Alliance Army and Colonial_ _Guard Order of Battle_

 _(Citadel Codex, First Human SPECTRE Collector's Edition, 2183)_

* * *

 **Codex users please be aware that the composition of these formations, and the reserve system is the Alliance Army BEFORE the major reforms undertaken following the Relay 314 Incident (First Contact War).**

 _Post Relay 314 Incident (First Contact War) This order of battle is used solely by the new armed force created in those reforms; the Colonial Guard. For the post-reform Alliance Army, which underwent such major changes as to practically be a new force, please see chapter 23 codex entry._

 _The Alliance Army (Post FCW Colonial Guard) uses a quad increase (to cohort level and then a tri increase after that) between unit levels to organise its soldiers. The army is also structured so that approximately 1/3rd (Post FCW 2/3rds) is made up of reserve troops that are only activated and called to duty in wartime. It does this by making a battalion the exception to the rule, in peacetime a battalion is made up of only 2 cohorts, not 3. The third cohort is made up of reserve troops and only reports for duty in wartime._

 _This system was replaced for the army with the new order of battle following the Relay 314 Incident (First Contact War). The colonial guard still uses this order of battle to organise its soldiers. However it reverses the cohort reserve system, keeping only 1 cohort active and 2 in reserve._

 _ **Fireteam:**_ _The smallest unit of the colonial guard consisting of 4 soldiers._

 _ **Squad:**_ _Consisting of 4 fireteams, these units contain 16 soldiers._

 _ **Section:**_ _Consisting of 4 squads, these units contain 64 combat soldiers._

 _ **Platoon:**_ _Consisting of 4 sections, these units contain 256 combat soldiers._

 _ **Company:**_ _Consisting of 4 platoons, these units contain 1,024 combat soldiers._

 _ **Cohort:**_ _This is the unit level where the unit level increase drops from quad (x4) to tri (x3). Consisting of 3 companies, these units contain 3,072 combat soldiers._

 _ **Battalion:**_ _This is the unit level where the army and colonial guard incorporate their reserve forces. Consisting of 2 cohorts in peacetime, these units contain 6,144 combat soldiers. However, a third cohort made up of reserves is always part of the battalion on paper. In wartime, they will be called up and deployed bringing the battalions combat solider count to 9,216._

 _Following the First Contact War the colonial guard reversed this system, having 1 cohort active and 2 cohorts in reserve._

 _ **Regiment:**_ _Consisting of 3 battalions, these units contain 18,432 combat soldiers in peacetime and 27,648 in wartime. (Post FCW figures 9,216 peacetime)_

 _ **Brigade:**_ _Consisting of 3 regiments, these units contain 55,296 combat soldiers in peacetime and 82,944 in wartime. (Post FCW figures 27,648 peacetime)_

 _ **Division:**_ _Consisting of 3 brigades, these units contain 165,888 combat soldiers in peacetime and 248,832 in wartime. Divisions consist of x2 infantry brigades and x1 armoured brigade. (Post FCW figures 82,944 peacetime)_

 _ **Corps:**_ _Consisting of 3 divisions, these units contain 497,644 combat soldiers in peacetime and 746,496 in wartime. (Post FCW figures 248,842 peacetime)_

 _ **Army:**_ _A colonial guard army does not have a fixed number of corps. Rather it has removed the upper corps limit and attached the number of formations that a system's population requires to garrison it properly._

 _In the First Contact War, an army consisted of 3 – 5 corps. 3 was the standard except the command army for an army group, which contains 5 corps as standard. With a standard 3 corps makeup these units contained 1,492,992 combat soldiers in peacetime and 2,239,488 in wartime._

 _ **Army Group:**_ _A colonial guard army group does not have a fixed number of armies. Rather it has removed the upper corps limit and attached the number of armies that a clusters' population requires to garrison it properly._

 _In the First Contact war, army groups were intended to form the Alliance's offensive ground power across entire fronts during wartime. Consisting of a minimum of a 5 corps command army and a 3 corps standard army, these units contained as a minimum 3,981,312 combat soldiers in peacetime and 5,971,968 in wartime._

* * *

 _While its effects are my own, the idea for the orbiting ships to use their guardian arrays for a bombing run came from one of my readers and reviewers: Justaregularguy01_

 _Mustafa Kamal Ataturk is someone who I highly recommend reading up on. His generalship in 1915 caused the failure of the allied Gallipoli campaign and he is the founder of modern, secular Turkey. It is his reforms and checks and balances that the current Turkish government are in the process of dismantling. His Gallipoli delay, halt, exhaust campaign was of great interest as I was researching how to successfully stop an amphibious invasion for realism in the invasion of Shanxi chapters._

* * *

 **Timeline Changes So Far**

 _First colony on mars: 27 years earlier than canon_

 _Discovery of Prothean ruins: 64 years earlier than canon_

 _Founding of the Systems Alliance (council of nations version): 63 years earlier than canon_

 _The First Contact War: 45 years earlier than canon_


	8. Chapter 8

_Standard disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect, nor any other content that you recognise. Some characters and systems are original creations. I am receiving no money for my work._

* * *

 **Theta System – Centauri Veil**

 **2112.10.08**

* * *

* _Don't forget the tumblr: thefourthcouncilrace dot tumblr dot com if you want more detailed visuals._

Luis Alberta kept a constant watch on the sensors as his Grande Merci class cargo hauler cruised at minimal thrust through the far reaches of the Theta system.

"You know you don't need to be glued to that display so much Luis, we are wayyyy above the plane of the ecliptic. None of the dinobirds are going to be up here." Virginia Condori was the pilot of the Caballo de Batalla, she was also the youngest, the most junior, and most flippant of its three crew.

"When it's your entire life's savings and livelihood we are flying into a system filled with hostile alien forces, then I'll relax." Luis muttered back, his eyes never leaving the sensor display.

"If you're that worried then why'd you take the job Captain?" Ariana Campero, the engineer – and third member of their crew – asked over the comm from her position in the cargo controller station.

"Because I'm a patriot. Just because I'm not a navy brat doesn't mean I'm not willing to do my part for the Alliance."

"That and the fact that Commodore Hansa offered us quadruple our usual fee for this, plus the same again as a bonus if we bring back all three targets." Virginia chipped in helpfully.

"And that yes." Luis groused as Ariana's peels of laughter reverberated around the bridge.

The Grande Merci cargo hauler was an Italian design from the great trading city of Genoa. A mostly flat rectangle with minimal space, they were barely able to support their three crew and had almost no cargo space in their main hull. Where they truly came into their own was as an update of the modern ocean-going container ship.

While freighters had extensive internal cargo bays, the Grande Merci instead had on either side of its rectangular hull, attachment points for four containers with a half hexagon profile, two to each side. When the ship docked these were simply removed and replaced with others, allowing the loading and unloading of the cargo hauler to take minuets instead of the hours it took to unload a freighter.

This had of course left the design with a massive unused space, namely the width of the ship between the containers. But the ship couldn't be made any larger without massively increasing the crew compliment which was counter to the whole point of the design. So, the enterprising Italian company had modified their original container design, sacrificing a little cargo space to allow them to mount 2 tractor beams on the front wall and 2 on the inside facing wall of each container.

This allowed any cargo that didn't mind being exposed to vacuum to be tractored into the space above the ship's hull but between the containers and be held in place in open vacuum throughout the journey. This had doubled the Grande Merci class's cargo hauling capacity for no increase in size or crew compliment and had promptly led to the Grade Merci quickly becoming the standard large cargo ship to sail the shipping lanes of the Alliance.

It was this feature that had led Commodore Hansa to try and employ some of the owners of these vessels present in the Centauri Veil cluster. Without an official declaration of war she couldn't legally conscript them, so she had done the next best thing. She had offered obscene amounts of money until one of them cracked, and in this case it had been Luis Alberta. Barely breaking even, his dream of being an independent trader in danger, Captain Alberta had decided to gamble by accepting Commodore Hansa's offer and taking _SV Caballo de Batalla_ into enemy occupied territory.

If they survived and completed the Commodore's mission, he would have enough money to fully repair his current ship and even buy another one if he could get a good price. It was either this or quite literally watch his dream fall apart around him before being driven back groundside when Caballo de Batalla's systems failed for the final time. He had vowed never to be trapped by a planets gravity again and he intended to keep that vow.

 _SV Caballo de Batalla_ had dropped out of FTL at the very edge of the system four days ago and proceeded deeper into the Theta system at minimal sublight power since then. Now, they were finally coming up on their first target.

"Anything Captain?" Virginia had become more professional as they reached the designated area.

"Nothing yet, this is going to be tricky. The Commodore's figures were based on the trajectory and speed of the destroyed fighter before the navy retreated. Even if it is as intact as they suspect, it will be cold and difficult to spot against the background radiation." Luis peered intently at the sensor readouts, for the first time actually hoping to find an enemy ship. "I still don't get why they want these fighters anyway, even if their right and they're only minimally damaged they're still not going to give us much information. They're just too small, any damage will have covered a large percentage of their systems."

Ariana piped up from below. "They don't want them, what they want are the missiles that they're carrying. We have never been able to miniaturise a mass effect engine enough to fit it into a torpedo that can be carried by a strike craft. But these aliens not only managed that, they went even further. They made these tiny missiles that they fire in huge numbers to saturate a ships GARDIAN arrays rather than actually do any damage." The engineer was practically vibrating from excitement

"We could have just stuck a different warhead on the torpedo, a bomb pumped X ray laser, a nuke, fuck, even an anti-matter warhead. Rather than being wedded to this disruptor warhead nonsense." Luis muttered absently from frustration.

"It wouldn't matter." Virginia jumped in, eager to distract herself from the boredom of sneaking around. "It's not the warhead that's the problem, it's the drive, the speed of the whole dam torpedo. When we're at sublight our mass effect core might not be generating a full FTL bubble anymore, but it is still lowering our mass so that the engines can push us faster in real space than they have any right too given our unaltered power to mass ratio. Without mass effect sublight engines it takes about 1 ½ years to get from Earth to Jupiter, if you want to just do a flyby. If you want to be going slow enough to enter orbit when you get there? Then it takes just over 5 years."

"Five YEARS?" Luis was startled enough to actually stop looking at the sensors for a moment. It was a blessing as when he looked back the small anomaly that had appeared was obvious. "Possible contact, it's either the fighter or a small asteroid. Take us close Virginia – nice and slow – this thing still has its momentum from the battle but nothing else, we have all the time in the world to get it right."

"You've got it skipper."

"Military ships could do the Earth to Jupiter run faster of course, but your still talking years of travel time without mass effect sublight drives." Ariana commented again, as he was neither a pilot nor an engineer Luis Alberta had never needed to know more than the basics of how his ship functioned. Certainly not how it compared to obsolete rocket ship technology. His job was to find profitable cargo contracts, it was only now he was appreciating what an advanced ship his darling was, compared to the pre-mass effect cargo ships that that had originally sailed the shipping lanes, keeping the outposts throughout Sol System supplied in those early days.

"Suddenly the weeks it takes us at sublight seems a lot more reasonable, and I promise never to complain about the wear of an in system FTL jump on the engines again." Luis muttered, still in shock.

"I'll hold you to that Captain." Ariana laughed. "But it shows you the problem. It doesn't matter what warhead we put on strike craft torpedoes, even a dreadnought can outrun them easily because we can't make a mass effect engine small enough for them. These guys can, and once we tear their missiles apart and learn how to do it ourselves? Well, the bastards are going to learn what happens when you send dreadnought squadrons against carrier groups. Engaging tractor beam, hold it there Gina."

Virginia grinned as she kept the _SV Caballo de Batalla_ motionless relative to the damaged alien fighter. "Yeh, they are. And we are going to be the ones that made it possible."

There was a deep thunk as the fighter and its precious missiles settled into position against the hull, secured for transport.

"Alien craft secure captain." Ariana's voice was flush with victory.

"Good work, both of you." Luis felt a little tension ease now they had the first fighter aboard. Ideally, they would get the other two candidates as well but at least now they had something, even if the other two possibilities given by Commodore Hansa turned out to be a bust.

"Virginia, take us towards the second search area, slow and steady. Just because we're well off the plane of the ecliptic doesn't mean the enemy won't be watching, let's not push our luck."

Virginia Condori nodded and set to work changing their speed and velocity while using as little engine power as possible. She couldn't hide the ships thermal emissions, but she could make them as small as possible. Making the huge cargo hauler appear to be just another one of the small courier boats or drones that Commodore Hansa had buzzing around the entire outer system, monitoring the enemy forces.

Though no one, or at least no human, had yet come up with a stealth ship that could eliminate its heat emissions entirely, there were many different ways to hide. Slowly _SV Caballo de Batalla_ changed course and crept towards its next target.

* * *

 **Qinghai – Shanxi**

 **2112.10.09**

* * *

Lieutenant General Jack Williams enjoyed the artificial sunlight as he entered the central cavern of the civilian shelter network.

With only three connections to the military network – all heavily defended – the civilian shelter system was a different beast entirely from its military counterpart. Each archology had an emergency evacuation lift and staircase column at its centre, one that lead to a bunker 2 miles beneath the surface that was capable of housing 125% of the archologies population.

Granted, it wasn't in luxurious conditions. People slept 6 to a room with barely enough space to walk between the two sets of triple bunk beds, the showers and bathrooms were large and communal, the food hall looked like a prison canteen and the recreation centres were sparse. But the shelter was completely self-contained, like an entombed starship, and it was deep enough to be immune to all bombardment up to and including the most powerful nuclear and kinetic strikes.

Powered by nuclear fission to allow for years of power generation without massive He3 tanks, the bunkers sole limiting factor was food. With normal rations the food stores of MREs and preserved foods could support its population for 2 years.

The bunkers beneath each archology each linked to two others and the central cavern. Carved out of the land underneath the city's central square the central cavern was a replica of the land above, a holonet across the ceiling projected a normal sunny day, keeping the plants alive. Water ran through the parks rivers and lakes as part of the storage system before being recycled. This central cavern was deemed necessary to allow the sheltering civilians some sense of normality, so that they did not go insane for however long they had to take shelter from a surface that was under siege, occupation, bombardment or glassing.

"Impressive, isn't it?"

General Williams didn't visually jump, but he must be more tired than he thought if a civilian was able to sneak up on him. "Very, Dr Banks. Thank God for the mining laser development, without their huge increase to our excavation speed all of this would have taken decades instead of years."

Doctor Louise Banks, the best linguist on Shanxi nodded. "Your military defences wouldn't even be half finished, let alone the civilian network. But you didn't ask to see me here to talk about mining. How can I help you General?"

"The aliens. We need to speak with them."

Dr Banks's forehead creased as she sighed in frustration. "I realise that General, but we can't go any faster than we are already. It takes time, we have to teach them to read and speak our language with no reference to their own apart from what they wish to share with a pencil and paper, as your security officers won't let them near any technology."

"For good reason Dr, but that aside. I need you to work faster, how hard can it be to teach them?"

Dr Banks took a moment to compose herself before taking out a datapad and writing 'What is are your goals here?' on it before showing it to the General. "Seems simple enough right? God only knows the intelligence agents seem to think so."

General Williams didn't get a chance to respond as the Dr entered a full-on rant now she had a captive audience. "In fact, it's incredibly complex. Relying on dozens of assumptions and rules that we learnt as very young children and have never questioned since, and that's before we even consider the hurdle of them being taught and comprehending the words that make up the question. So, first, we need to make sure that they understand what a question is. The nature of a request for information, along with a response."

General Williams didn't even make an attempt to hide his scepticism.

"Their aliens General, don't make assumptions that anything about them is the same as us until its proven." Dr Banks obviously had no problem calling out anything that she deemed to be a problem, and the worst part was she was right. He resolved to keep that piece of advice foremost in his mind. It was true for more than language.

Dr Banks continued. "Then, we need to clarify the difference between a specific "you"...and a collective "you", because we don't want to know why 'Joe Alien' is here, we want to know why they _all_ came here. Purpose requires an understanding of intent, so we need to find out: do they make conscious choices? Or is their motivation so instinctive that they don't understand a "why" question at all. Then most importantly of all, when we have finally overcome all of these challenges, we need to have a big enough vocabulary with them that we actually understand their answer."

The energy drained out of Louise Banks and she just looked exhausted. Jack Williams could understand why, explaining that over and over again to military and intelligence officers who were screaming for results, without listening to the challenges the linguistics team was facing had to be exhausting. "So, we're talking, weeks minimum for even the most basic questions?"

Dr Banks nodded, seeming relieved. "Maybe the aliens could do more if they had a translation software specifically designed to do this, but we can't make one that even translates our own human languages accurately. The chances of us doing so for something that didn't even originate in a human brain are virtually zero for the foreseeable future as well, our only option is to do this the old-fashioned way."

"The aliens aren't eating." The Doctor looked up at the Generals blunt statement.

"The prisoners will drink water, but they are refusing all food and they are fading fast. We tried force feeding three of them and they had some form of allergic reaction, thankfully they survived. We don't know what's wrong and we can't find out." General Williams looked imploringly at the linguist, hoping for a solution.

"We will never learn to communicate with them in time if their ability to survive without food is even vaguely similar to humans. I'm sorry General, but we can't provide you with a solution to that. Its just not possible to learn the language that quickly." Louise was genuinely remorseful, but she wouldn't make promises she couldn't keep.

"I suppose letting them starve is out of the question?" General Williams was only half joking.

"I have no idea what's acceptable to them General, but the Geneva Convention covers all Alliance warfare, no matter who your opponent is." The Doctors voice had hardened

"I know, I know." The exhaustion returned to General William's voice as he turned to return to the military network. Taking one last look at the artificial sun. "Just work as fast as you can Doctor."

Dr Banks returned to work with increased urgency. They needed to be able to speak with the aliens. Soon.

* * *

 **Qinghai Outskirts – Shanxi**

 **2112.10.10**

* * *

General Sparatus glared at the tactical update from Admiral Arterius. The Admiral had stated, again, that he could not hunt down the small ships obviously entering and exiting FTL at the edge of the system. To do so would be to expose the supply convoys to attack as it would spread his escorts out to thinly, so she was going to have to suffer the knowledge that the 'engineers', as she had taken to calling them, were getting full updates on the position and number of turian ships and probably updates from their ground forces as well.

'Engineers'. Such a simple term, but it hid the reality of her opponents. At every stage they had used construction and engineering to enhance their abilities, cover their weaknesses and to counter everything she had done. With their creations the engineers had done what the galaxy considered impossible for all but the Krogan, they had fought a turian Leigon to a standstill in a fair fight. When it had orbital supremacy to boot.

The General sighed, grateful that there were at least no major problems in space. The engineer's station colonies were still docile, under threat of having their life support destroyed for a second and final time, and the supply convoys were unmolested due to the heavy escort allowed by having nearly 500 turian warships in a single system.

Supplies.

The General stared hard at the numbers on her reports, willing them to change, but they did not. There were massive stockpiles for her legion in Third Patrol Fleets depots, but they would only cover her needs for approximately 4 weeks of combat operations. They were supposed to provide a cushion as new supplies would normally be dispatched from the closest logistics nexus once Palaven Command was informed her Legion was conducting combat operations, but she hadn't called for any. As such the logistics bunkers were emptying fast, and once they were dry in 4 weeks' time? Her troops wouldn't have the ability to move at all let alone go into combat. And the closest new supplies would be weeks away.

The curses of the technicians working on half melted vehicles and the screams of the injured from the medical tents came through the door as one of the communications officers entered and saluted.

"Yes Lieutenant?" General Sparatus tried to focus on the officer in front of her, not the raging orange inferno in her memory. The screams of her troops as they burned alive and the smell of cooking flesh as they were driven back from the engineer's wall of death were things she didn't think she would ever be able to forget.

"There is activity from the wall General." The young officer stammered nervously as the General practically flew across the room towards him, fear and rage in equal measure on her face.

"What activity?"

"The engineers have sent out three vehicles, they are all flying prominent white flags and making no effort to hide. They are being lead at a walking place by an engineer who is holding the branch of a tree in front of them, their direction of travel is directly towards us."

General Sparatus got herself back under control as she considered the situation. "Ready my command APC, the duty rapid response force and my sub generals. I'm going to go and see what surprises the engineers are setting up for us now."

* * *

 **Hackenburg Sector – Shanxi**

 **2112.10.10**

* * *

Brigadier General Kai Jodl felt like an absolute fool walking away from Qinghai's Maginot Line with three APCs following him in first gear. The feeling was not helped by the olive branch he was holding while he walked in the direction of the enemy camp.

"We're nearly outside friendly artillery range General, not much further to go." The driver of the lead APC kept him updated, the white flag fluttering from the improvised pole on its roof.

"Good, lets hope they see something unusual in this little group even if they don't know the meaning of olive branches and flags of truce." General Jodl replied continuing his walk.

"I think anyone would find us following a person on foot at this pace directly towards them at least a little strange sir, even without all of the added extras." The Private driving the second APC put in his two pence worth to alleviate some of the tension.

"Well, I lost in drawing lots with Generals Albricci and Xiao, how did you pull this duty soldiers?" Kai asked on their team's private channel, looking to pass the time as he walked.

"We're all single and not only children sir." The reply was blunt and to the point. "Major Petrovsky wanted to limit the damage to morale if this all goes tits up, which he thinks it will."

"Great." Kai muttered to himself, finally stopping as his datapad pinged. Letting him know he had reached the identified location, 200m beyond the maximum range of friendly artillery. "Alright Private, get the pavilion set up and then have your APCs pull back 100 meters as stated in the briefing."

General Jodl stared in the direction of the dinobirds base as the drivers and gunners from the APCs set up a flat topped, circular, canvas pavilion. After dumping a wide table and two chairs in the centre of it they retreated to their APCs and reversed 100m from him, as agreed.

Kai gratefully took the chair closest to Qinghai and waited. He knew that both he and the APCs were completely exposed to the dinobirds out here, what he didn't know is what the dinobirds would do now.

* * *

 _Codex Entry: Humans – Alliance Army, Colonial Guard, and Marine Officers (Generals)_

 _(Citadel Codex, First Human SPECTRE Collector's Edition, 2183)_

* * *

 **Codex users please be aware that these ranks and their responsibilities are POST the major reforms undertaken of the Systems Alliance military command structure following the Relay 314 Incident (First Contact War) in 2112.**

 _The rank itself has generally not changed despite the reforms, rather the unit assigned to the name has undergone radical changes. For example, the post first contact war brigadier generals will command brigades in both the colonial guard and in the army. However, a colonial guard section will contain 82,944 soldiers, but an army section will command only 6,144._

 _Regardless the unit name 'brigade' still applies and the unit's designation as either army or colonial guard is used to determine its structure._

 _The Alliance army officers of flag rank are known as Generals._

 _ **OF10 – Field Marshal:**_ _This is the highest rank in the_ _colonial guard, army and marines. In the army and colonial guard these officers can be found commanding army groups._ _They are the equivalent of navy fleet admirals._

 _Colonial guard field marshals are responsible for the defence of each cluster of the Alliance. The colonial guard forces they command will vary in size depending on how many armies are required to garrison their cluster properly given its population._

 _Like the flying corps, the marines have only one field marshal. Known as the Marshal of the Marines, they are responsible for all marines throughout the Alliance._

 _The First Sky Marshal is always a field marshal._

 _It should be noted that field martials are outranked by the naval wartime rank of Admiral of the Fleet (allied supreme commander)._ _Though due to both the chaos of the Relay 314 Incident (First Contact War) and its relatively short length, at the time of writing for this codex the Systems Alliance has never appointed an Admiral of the Fleet._

 _ **OF9 – General:**_ _In the colonial guard and army, these officers can be found commanding armies_ _. Generals are the equivalent of navy admirals. There is no corresponding marine or pilot rank._

 _Colonial guard generals are the garrison commanders of an entire system, the forces attached to their army vary based on the size of the systems population and how many formations are required to garrison it effectively._

 _The Second Sky Marshal is always a general._

 _ **OF8 – Captain General:**_ _In the colonial guard, army and marines_ _,_ _these officers can be found commanding corps._ _Captain generals are the equivalent of naval vice admirals. There is no corresponding pilot rank._

 _Colonial guard captain generals are the garrison commanders of cities._

 _Army captain generals are often found in charge of the army's most critical R &D projects, to give them the command authority to deal with both civilian bureaucrats and the army budget and logistics departments. They are also heavily involved in doctrine development_

 _Marine captain generals lead the planetary assault corps. Until the marine captain general leading the assault is satisfied that the beachhead is secure, the entire invading army group and its field marshal are not permitted to land._

 _The Third Sky Marshal is always a captain general._

 _With the removal of the major general rank and the downgrading of lieutenant general to OF-7, the rank of captain general was created by the Alliance to fill the now vacant OF-8 slot. They are the equivalent of a lieutenant general in the nation states armies._

 _ **OF7 – Lieutenant General:**_ _In the colonial guard, army and marines_ _, these officers can be found commanding divisions. They are the equivalent of naval rear admirals and air marshals._

 _Colonial guard lieutenant generals are the garrison commanders of dome colonies cities of up to 4 million people._

 _Army lieutenant generals are heavily involved in the armies R &D projects and in doctrine development. _

_Marine lieutenant generals are the commanding officers of planetary assault divisions._

 _The Fourth and Fifth Sky Marshals are always lieutenant generals._

 _The Alliance made the deliberate decision to remove the rank of major general from its rank structure during the reorganisation. Taking the opportunity to remove the oddity created when the shortening of the original rank title (Sergeant Major General) to the modern title of major general was accepted._

 _This development meant that the rank of lieutenant general was superior to that of major general despite the rank of major being a higher non-flag officer rank than that of lieutenant, a situation that caused considerable confusion to anyone outside the military. With the removal of the major general rank, the Alliance army downgraded lieutenant general to an OF-7 rank. The equivalent of a major general in the nation states armies._

 _ **OF6 – Brigadier General:**_ _In the colonial guard, army and marines, these officers can be found commanding brigades. They are the equivalent of navy commodores and air commodores._

 _Colonial guard brigadier generals are the garrison commanders of dome colonies of under 1 million people._

 _Army brigadier generals, as well as being heavily engaged in doctrine development, are the most common army base commanding officers. They are also heavily involved in the logistics of the army. Though not glamourous, the baggage train is essential for the army to fight._

 _Marine brigadier generals command the planetary assault brigades and are the base commanders for the marines planetside bases. One is also the commanding officer of the marine compliment of fleet headquarters._

* * *

 _The explanation of how/why to teach an alien race to speak your language is from the film Arrival, as is the character. It was such an amazing explanation I just had to use it._

* * *

 **Timeline Changes So Far**

 _First colony on mars: 27 years earlier than canon_

 _Discovery of Prothean ruins: 64 years earlier than canon_

 _Founding of the Systems Alliance (council of nations version): 63 years earlier than canon_

 _The First Contact War: 45 years earlier than canon_


	9. Chapter 9

_Standard disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect, nor any other content that you recognise. Some characters and systems are original creations. I am receiving no money for my work._

* * *

 **Hackenburg Sector – Shanxi**

 **2112.10.10**

* * *

Commander Atticus approached the open sided canvas structure ahead cautiously. The engineer's vehicles were far behind it but still in firing range, he hoped that his own tanks were enough to discourage them from firing. Perhaps they were hoping to kill General Sparatus, not knowing that turian doctrine expressly forbade the commanding officer negotiating in person.

Thankfully the General was safe in her command APC, watching the situation over the body camera that he was wearing and linking up to his comm system along with other experts. He stepped onto the metal grid that formed the floor of the pavilion and took stock.

A single un armoured engineer sat on the opposite side of a plain metal desk in the centre of the pavilion. There was a chair on Atticus's side, but nothing else throughout the entire structure.

"The alien looks unremarkable, it seems our supposition that this race does not have a biological leadership caste was correct." One of the researchers watching his bodycam footage was the first to speak.

"Don't be so hasty. Asari matriarchs and salarian dalatrasses look the same as the rest of their race does to us, but their differences are as clear as day to their own species."

Atticus ignored the squabbling of the researchers who were also watching.

"So, this is the face of our enemy" General Sparatus mused over the communications kink. They had all seen engineers before, the captured garrison forces from their station colonies were being held and investigated aboard several cruisers after all, but this was their first time seeing an engineer who manned the wall of death. Unarmoured at least.

"Not very impressive." Atticus dismissed the alien with equal parts derision and anger that these engineers had managed to kill so many good turian troops. "Just look at them, their skin looks paper thin, not like the tough and leathery aquatic skin of the asari. Those claws are pathetic, especially compared to the elcor. The digits of the hand are thin and weak as well, at least compared to the drell, and their bulk is certain to make them as lumbering and slow as the batarians. A salarian could probably run rings round them, and they don't seem to have the ability to absorb damage like the batarians do."

"Weak legs as well." General Sparatus commented. "Quarian legs are much stronger, they can break most species bones in one kick. These engineers legs look like they'd be lucky to cause a bruise. I don't think I've seen a species this unsuited to combat since I first met a volus."

As if taking the lull in conversation as a cue, the engineer stood and retracted its lips, showing its teeth in what was obviously a display of dominance.

The General had another observation. "Blunt teeth as well, no wonder they spend so much time and resources on construction. Biologically they're under protected and virtually weapon-less. Every species except the volus has at least one natural weapon or defence to give them an edge in hand to hand combat, but these engineers don't seem to have anything."

Atticus glanced again at the aliens blunt and useless claws as the General gave her assessment. She was right, without engineered solutions – even one as simple as a wooden spear – this species would be unable to significantly damage anything. All species used engineering to cover for their deficiencies of course, but with the exception of the volus he had never seen a species that had no obvious natural strengths before they even started.

These engineers didn't use tools to compensate for some shortcomings, they used tools to compensate for everything. Physically at least. He snorted derisively as he returned the dominance display, spreading his mandibles to reveal the needle-sharp teeth that were the legacy of turians distant past as a Palaven predator.

The engineer obviously recognised Atticus's superiority as he stopped showing his own teeth and lowered his head before raising it again and sitting down.

The scientist's analysis made Atticus's confidence grow even more. "That must be a recognition of your superiority in dominance ritual. The loser assumes a submissive and vulnerable position while the winner remains standing – assertive – forcing the weaker party to look up at the stronger, as well as giving the stronger an opportunity to strike before the weaker party can stand up and defend itself."

"This bodes well for the negotiations." General Sparatus mused. "If we beat them, capture their colony, then they will recognise our superiority and submit. We should be able to extract enough concessions to make this debacle worthwhile without compromising this race's view of the Citadel."

"Agreed. This teeth showing – then bowing to and sitting before – the more dangerous participant ritual would support that view of their likely negotiating stance general" The scientists were at it again. "Commander, remove the chair. We don't want to give the alien any indication that we disagree with his decision that you won the dominance ritual."

Atticus picked up the chair and moved it outside the structure before returning. He made sure to bare his teeth at the alien again, just in case it had been having second thoughts about its inferiority. This seemed to work as the alien became even more relaxed, the tense alert nature in its limbs and stance draining away.

"Surprising that they should use teeth to decide who submits." Atticus commented before looking at the alien's claws again. "Ok, maybe not so surprising."

"Focus Atticus!" The General snapped. "What do they want? Are they surrendering?"

Privately Atticus doubted it, but he couldn't blame the General for the hope in her voice. He looked the alien in the eyes as you would a batarian and spoke slowly. "Do you understand me? Why did you call this meeting?"

The engineer just stared. Atticus didn't know enough to guess what the expression was, but he was feeling frustrated.

 _"I guess you're not as advanced as the eggheads thought."_ The alien made noises, but Atticus had no idea what they meant which just made his frustration worse. _  
_

"Do we not have a translation programme for this spirits cursed language yet?!" He growled at the scientists.

"It's an incredibly complex language Commander." The defensive tone was clear to all listening. "The aliens speak multiple languages – which doesn't help – but the most common one seems to be a mix of three different languages as a root before being influenced by what seems to be every other language these aliens speak. Not to mention…."

"Alight, it's a huge challenge. We get it, just work as fast as you can." General Sparatus cut them off. "Now, how do we find out what they want?"

The alien had been watching this exchange and had decided to use this lull in conversation to do something. It pulled out a bar wrapped in silver covering, showing it to Atticus before opening it and taking a bite.

Atticus just stared as the engineer repeatedly waved the half-eaten food bar at him.

"I think it wants you to eat some. Commander." One of the researchers observed.

"Don't! They're a levo species."

"He has to do something! Commander, can you copy it? You have an emergency ration bar on you don't you?"

"I do." Atticus's reply was short and to the point as he removed the ration bar and copied the engineer. As soon as it saw Atticus eat his own ration bar rather than take its own, the alien became much more animated.

"Given the repeated pointing, I think it wants the ration bar Commander."

"Give it one Atticus." The General decided after a moments pause.

The alien calmed down once it had got the ration bar, scanning it with a large clunky tool that Atticus supposed must be their version of an omni tool. It then brought out a compact flat tablet that opened to form a 90-degree angle, forming an L shape with a blank screen on the upright half and an actual physical keyboard on the lower half.

The display was awful, but Atticus dutifully made sure the bodycam could see it. On the screen were turians, dressed in only their under armour fabric and clearly in some form of holding cell. Over and over the recording showed the turians refusing the food that the engineers offered them. Even when the engineers took a bite of it themselves first. "They're probably trying to convince our people that it wasn't poisoned." Atticus muttered as he continued to watch the display.

The turians got weaker as the recording went on. "For the last time WE CAN'T EAT YOUR FOOD!" Audio was suddenly provided for a moment as a turian prisoner threw the food at an engineer and was promptly restrained. The scene changed to show that prisoner and two others fully restrained while the engineers poured a liquid into their mouths via tubes, giving the unfortunate turians no choice but to swallow.

"Why are they showing us them torturing our people?" Atticus seethed, barely resisting the urge to put out the eyes of the alien opposite. They might not have the same attachment to their eyes as the batarians, but it would certainly hurt them. And make him feel better.

"That's not torture, its force feeding. They don't understand why we can't eat their food. It must seem to them to be perfectly edible to us in terms of digestibility and nutrients, they don't know we're dextro."

The turians on the display all had allergic reactions as the turian watchers expected. The engineers immediately stopped the force feeding and removed the restraints, then the screen went black.

"It looked like a mild reaction, they probably survived." The scientist's analysis was the only thing to break the silence.

After a moment the engineer began to wave around Atticus's ration bar and point back at the vehicles that were waiting close by.

"They want our food." Atticus realised. "I bet those vehicles are APCs, and that they're not carrying their normal troop compliment to make room for cargo. They want to load them up with our food so that they can feed their turian prisoners. Otherwise they'll starve."

"Excellent, this gives us even better projections for the peace negotiations. Empathy with their enemies, they're far more emotional in war than salarians. This could be used to our advantage if the negotiations fail."

"Hold on, what makes you think they empathise with the prisoners.? They could be like the bararians, just wanting to work them to death as slaves. You don't get much work out of slaves unless you feed them at least a little."

"It is possible, but at least they're not eating the prisoners. Like the Yahg did." The scientists debate was silenced as General Sparatus made her observation. "Call up the base, have them bring up enough emergency rations to fill those vehicles."

"But General..."

"But nothing! We may not know what the spirits dammed aliens have in store for our people, but we DO know that if we don't give them the food they want are people are going starve to death. Slowly."

Dead silence reigned across the turian com system as they considered that nightmare. Starving to death, surrounded by food and aliens willing to give it to you. "The base says the transports can be here in 2 hours General. In the meantime, the Commander should try and see if he can gather more data for the translation software. Commander Atticus, we are going to see if we can communicate time units to the aliens. Please tap the table at one second intervals and..."

* * *

 **Toltec – Zapala**

 **2112.10.13**

* * *

Lieutenant Tadius Ahern – N4 – was in command of the naval special forces on Zapala, all eight of them including himself. Both of the cruiser squadrons assigned to the Centauri Veil cluster had had a single 4 solider N4 fireteam assigned to them as well as their marine complements. When General Williams had conscripted the marines into helping him defend Shanxi, he had sent the two N4 fireteams to General Soberon to help defend Zapala. Now for the first time since the dinobirds had breached the dome, Lieutenant Ahern felt that they were ready to enact the plan he had taken to General Soberon.

Having finally obtained the General's reluctant permission, he was now leading his N4 team through the sewers of Toltec, toward their target. He had chosen the sewers because they were the deepest of the service tunnels running beneath the streets of Toltec and thus were the most likely to have survived intact.

The shallow service tunnels were already collapsed ruins from the artillery and the medium level tunnels were death traps, filled with running battles with dinobird troops as General Soberon's soldiers kept using them to infiltrate behind the dinobird lines.

A dinobird appeared, guarding the intersection ahead. Tadius activated his comms twice sending out a faint double click. The return click came a moment later, letting him know that the other N4 fireteam was in position.

He slowly advanced, trying not to audibly disturb the grey water around his knees. The dinobird suddenly turned to face one of the other intersections and Ahern leaped, covering the remaining distance in a couple of seconds.

His combat knife flashed, bypassing the kinetic barriers and digging deep into the join of the enemy armour, severing the links to the comm system. Cut off before he could issue a warning, the dinobird tried to rally, but Ahern pulled out his knife and pivoted. He successfully hit the helmet release and slammed his knife into the small gap that appeared as the clamps disengaged, there was a gurgle and a spray of royal blue blood before the dinobird lay still.

'Good job LT.' The leader of the second fireteam said with combat sign language, appearing from the sewer that had drawn the enemy sentry's attention.

Ahern grinned fiercely despite the horrific stench that the brief combat had caused when it disturbed the settled human waste. He and his men had been practicing, picking off dinobird sentries ever since they had first landed on Zapala. First learning how to kill them, then how to kill them quickly, then quickly and quietly, before – finally – how to disable their armours comm system and external speakers before killing them quickly and quietly.

'No problems our area.' His XO signed. 'Mission viable?'

'Mission viable.' Ahern confirmed in silence. His XO returned his predatory grin and disappeared back into the network with his fireteam, heading for the next sewer nexus and their next rendezvous. Ahern lead his team deeper into the sewer network, his belief that his plan would be successful was growing. Hopefully they would reach their destination before the enemy realised some of their sentries were missing.

* * *

 **Qinghai Outskirts – Shanxi**

 **2112.10.14**

* * *

General Sparatus stared at the comm screen intensely as Sub General Orinia continued to update her superior officer on the status of her invasion of Zapala. "We are successfully grinding the enemy down General. I have recently given orders for a creeping barrage of artillery to destroy all buildings and ambush points ahead of my troops, it has the benefit of revealing the enemy strongpoint positions as well as killing any enemy troops lying in unhardened ambush positions. It has more than doubled our attack speed, but the supply of spare parts for our artillery pieces cooling systems is becoming a problem."

"Good." General Sparatus sounded bitter but determined. "We need some progress, the failure of my second attack on their wall of death was at least less bloody than the first, but it was still a failure. You are to be commended for taking such effective action Sub General."

Taking a moment to divert precious supplies to Zapala, the lack of which was something her own troops would just have to deal with, the General continued. "However, although my second attack was as much a failure as my first, it did reveal something interesting about their wall of death strategy. It's as brittle as glass Orinia, one good hit and it will come crashing down."

"Are you certain General?" Sub General Orinia asked cautiously, remembering the casualty reports from General Sparatus's first and second attacks on the engineer's fortifications.

"The wall of death is not intended to stop us." Sparatus's eyes gleamed with satisfaction at her revelation.

"I'm sorry, General? I don't understand. Hasn't it repelled two of your attempts to break through now?

"No, it hasn't. Both times I was certain to break through, it was just a matter of time. Then the tide was turned by reinforcements arriving and counter attacking, forcing me to retreat. If I had just faced the wall I would have broken through, like the battle manuals say we should do when faced with any fixed defence."

The certainty and satisfaction in her commanding officers voice at finally finding the weakness of the engineer's wall of death was a tonic to Sub General Orinia's frayed nerves. "Then all you have to do is stop them from reinforcing the wall and you can punch though and finally assault the colony itself."

"Better than that." General Sparatus explained gleefully. "The wall can't move so once I breach it, all of it is worthless for defending the colony. None of the money or resources put into its construction will be able to be used in defence of the colony. I will endeavour to trap the garrison in its forts as well, preventing them from falling back in a last-ditch defence and leaving them isolated. Waiting to be removed or starved out at our leisure."

"This is excellent news General! You can..."

The door in the Zapala forward operating base opened and Sub General Orinia's guard entered, before slumping silently to the floor in a fast-growing puddle of royal blue blood. As he fell a demon was revealed in the door way, its jet black armour coloured only by a red and white stripe on its right side.

General Sparatus hit the system wide alert, calling every turian in the Theta System to battlestations as she knew it was the fastest way to get help to Orinia.

Orinia herself had reacted quickly, but it was the reaction of a solider. Not that of a hostage. Instead of screaming for help to alert the dozens of guards present in the building, she instead went for her pistol to fight the demon herself. The alien reached her before she could raise it.

General Sparatus was helpless, watching the comm screen as Sub General Orinia was beaten senseless before being picked up and draped over the shoulder of one of the engineers who had slipped silently into the room.

The leader removed its helmet and looked dead at General Sparatus while its fellow engineers exited the room, silently and at speed. The alien said something and pursed its lips at the screen, making a distinctive noise before replacing its helmet and disappearing.

General Sparatus was shaking with anger as she called her research team. "Is that translation programme ready yet?"

"It is not finished yet, but the current version will work with 60% accuracy General." The reply was clipped and short, due to the fury in the General's voice and the blaring alarms.

"Translate this." General Sparatus growled, sending over a copy of the alien speaking to her. "Well?!"

"As far as we can tell General, the alien said: 'You are next.'"

General Sparatus slammed her talon dagger into her desk and screamed in incoherent rage at this spirits cursed planet, its spirit cursed inhabitants and at everything that had brought the Third Patrol Fleet to this place.

* * *

 **Tuchanka Orbit – Aralakh Cluster**

 **Black Communication Log: Salarian Bannership**

 **2112.10.15**

* * *

 _From: STG_

 _To: Commanding officer, salarian contingent, Council Enforcement Fleet, Krogan DMZ_

 _Alert: Third Patrol Fleet missing from Lryae Asteria cluster. Location unknown. Intense supply drawdown ongoing. Intense ground combat likely. Lryae Asteria supply bases NOT receiving extra supplies from Citadel or Hierarchy sources. Actions of TPF likely unauthorised. Highest priority. Investigating using external sources. Stand by to support when required._

 _From: Commanding officer, salarian contingent, Council Enforcement Fleet, Krogan DMZ_

 _To: STG_

 _Acknowledged: Standing by._

* * *

 _Codex Entry: Humans – Alliance Army, Colonial Guard, and Marine Officers (Excluding Generals)_

 _(Citadel Codex, First Human SPECTRE Collector's Edition, 2183)_

* * *

 **Codex users please be aware that these ranks and their responsibilities are POST the major reforms undertaken of the Systems Alliance military command structure following the Relay 314 Incident (First Contact War) in 2112.**

 _The rank itself has generally not changed, rather the unit assigned to the name has undergone radical changes. For example, the post first contact war 2_ _nd_ _lieutenants will command sections in both the colonial guard and in the army. However, a colonial guard section will contain 64 soldiers, but an army section will command only 24._

 _Regardless the unit name 'section' still applies and the unit's designation as either army or colonial guard is used to determine its structure._

 _ **OF5 – Colonel:**_ _In the colonial guard, army and marines, these officers can be found commanding regiments. They are the equivalent of navy captains and group captains._

 _Colonial guard colonels are the commanding officers of a maginot lines entire engineering and maintenance force._

 _Army colonels are the commanding officers of small planet side bases and also form the support roles such as intelligence officer when attached to corps and army HQs_

 _Marine colonels on naval deployment command the combined marine compliments of navy cruiser squadrons. One is also the commanding officer of the marine compliment of Arcturus station._

 _ **OF4 – Lieutenant Colonel:**_ _In the colonial guard, army and marines, these officers can be found commanding battalions. They are the equivalent of navy commanders and wing commanders._

 _Colonial guard lieutenant colonels are the garrison commanders of the largest station colonies and the maginot line overages and flack towers._

 _Army lieutenant colonels can be found in charge of maintenance and logistics for entire groups of advancing army formations._

 _Marine lieutenant colonels on naval deployment command the marine compliments of the largest shipyards and naval bases and the combined marine compliments of a naval cruiser detachment._

 _In the Relay 314 Incident (First Contact War) the marines drafted in to help the army defend Shanxi were led into battle by their Lt. Colonels, who had been the commanding officers of the various cruiser squadron's marine compliments._

 _ **OF3 – Major:**_ _In the colonial guard, army and marines, these officers can be found commanding cohorts. They are the equivalent of navy lieutenant commanders and squadron leaders._

 _Colonial guard majors are the garrison commanders of large station colonies and the maginot line redoubts._

 _Army majors are the commanding officers for large supply dumps during offensive operations._

 _Marine majors on naval deployment are the commanding officers of the marine compliments on **Error Ship Class Not Found** dreadnoughts, fleet carriers, small shipyards, standard naval and logistics bases, standard shipyards, and large naval and logistics bases._

 _ **OF2 – Captain:**_ _In the colonial guard, army and marines, these officers can be found commanding companies. They are the equivalent of navy first lieutenants, there is no equivalent flying officer rank._

 _Colonial guard captains are the garrison commanders of medium station colonies._

 _Army captains are the commanding officers of small supply dumps during offensive operations._

 _Marine captains on naval deployment are the commanding officers of the marine compliments on cruisers, heavy cruisers, escort carriers, repair yards, and small naval and logistics bases._

 _The presence of this rank in such a different place in the army, marine and colonial guard hierarchy compared to the navy hierarchy is the source of much irritation to alien species that have to work closely with the human military._

 _ **OF1 – Lieutenant:**_ _In the colonial guard, army and marines, these officers can be found commanding platoons. They are the equivalent of navy lieutenants and flight lieutenants._

 _Colonial guard lieutenants are the garrison commanders of small station colonies._

 _Marine lieutenants command 2 fireteams when on naval deployment, significantly less than usual. However, the single squad (2 fireteams) is the standard marine compliments of frigates, and thus requires an officer present when on naval deployment to represent the marines among the naval officers. Lieutenants will usually lead the boarding parties from larger naval vessels as well._

 _This makes these officers particularly hated by independent traders as they can often be found commanding inspections teams when a cargo ship falls foul of the navy rather than the orbital guard._

 _These are also the officers that pirates and other enemies of the Alliance most often encounter, as the cruisers are often the first on the scene of any attack and drop them straight into enemy fire._

 _ **OF0 – 2**_ _ **nd**_ _ **Lieutenant:**_ _The lowest of the army officer ranks. In the colonial guard, these officers command sections with the help of the section's master sergeant. In the army they also command sections but without requiring a non-com to effectively command half of the formation for them._

 _They are the equivalent of navy ensigns and flying officers. The marines do not use the OF0 rank due to their specialist training._

* * *

 _Codex Entry: Humans – Alliance Army, Colonial Guard, and Marine_ _Non-Commissioned Officers_

 _(Citadel Codex, First Human SPECTRE Collector's Edition, 2183)_

* * *

 _Humans do not put all of their units under the command of a commissioned officer, though the precise numbers and levels vary between the army, colonial guard, and marines (especially if the marines are on naval deployment) the tradition of having its smallest units commanded by non-commissioned officers continues._

 _Non-commissioned officers are soldiers that have shown great leadership skills and bravery but who started as a private or private first class and have not received commissioned officer training at the military academies._

 _Army and colonial guard fireteams and squads are under the command of non-commissioned officers. The first unit in the army and colonial guard to be commanded by a commissioned officer is a section commanded by a 2_ _nd_ _lieutenant (OF0)._

 _Marines do not use the section formation or the OF0 rank. Instead, marine formations jump from the squad, under the command of a sergeant, to a platoon, under the command of a lieutenant (OF1)_

 _The exception is when the marines are on naval deployment, where a squad will be commanded by a lieutenant instead of a sergeant to allow the marines to be properly represented among the naval officers._

 _ **OR9 – Sergeant Major of the Alliance Army/Colonial Guard/Marines:**_ _The highest ranked non-commissioned officer in the Systems Alliance army/colonial guard/marines, they are responsible for all of the non-commissioned officers of their respective service in the Alliance._

 _ **OR8 – Sergeant Major:**_ _These are the most senior non-commissioned officer in a unit above section size in the colonial guard, and above platoon size in the army and marines._

 _These officers deal with all disciplinary matters for the soldiers and non-coms in the unit and will see that everything is running smoothly. Officially listed as first and second-class warrant officers, in practice they are known by the unit they are assigned to. Eg: the division sergeant major, the regimental sergeant major etc…_

 _Their ranks relative to each other are decided by the size of the unit they serve. A corps sergeant major is a higher rank than a brigade sergeant major._

 _When on naval deployment, the rank of sergeant major in the marines is held by the most senior non-com in a multi ship formation. Eg: the detachment sgt. major, the squadron sgt. major, the fleet sgt. major. Again their ranks relevant to each other are determined by the size of the naval formation they are assigned to._

 _ **OR7 – Master Sergeant:**_ _The senior sergeant in a colonial guard section serves as the Master Sergeant. They serve as the executive officer for the unit while a second lieutenant serves as the commanding officer._

 _In the army and marines, a master sergeant is the most senior sergeant in a platoon. In the marines they will serve as the platoons executive officer, where as in the army that role is filled by a 2_ _nd_ _lieutenant._

 _When on naval deployment, a marine master sergeant is a rank held by the most senior sergeant in a larger than frigate sized ship's marine compliment. For example, while there is only one sergeant in a frigate's marine compliment, there are 5 in a cruiser's._

 _The ranks relationship to each other is determined by the size of the ship they serve on, eg: a fleet carrier's master sergeant is superior to a cruiser's. Their role is to help the formation sgt. major maintain order across the formations marine compliment._

 _ **OR6 – Colour Sergeant:**_ _Each Alliance brigade and army has a flag that is unique to that unit. When on parade or other ceremonial duties brigades will fly their own flag and the flag of the army that they are assigned to. Taking the form of a 1m x 1.2m flag on a 2.6m long pole topped with a silver Systems Alliance dragon, these flags are known as the colours._

 _In each brigade two sergeants will have the honour of carrying them and are promoted to the rank of colour sergeant to reflect that honour. The tradition of colours dates from the time in human history when they were necessary for the commanding officer to be able to see the location of the unit._

 _The loss of the colours generally indicated the total collapse and rout of the unit and was seen as a terrible loss and failure._

' _Colours lost; Honour lost. Honour lost; All is lost.'_

 _ **OR5 – Sergeant:**_ _The highest of the standard non-commissioned officer ranks. They are the commanding officers of squads in the army and colonial guard, and in the marines except for marines on naval deployment._

 _Due to a squad being a frigate's marine compliment, when on naval deployment a sergeant will serve as the marine squad's executive officer rather than its commanding officer. The squad's CO slot will be filled by a marine lieutenant (OF1)_

 _ **OR4 – Corporal:**_ _The middle of the standard non-commissioned officer ranks._

 _Army and colonial guard corporals are the executive officers of squads._

 _Marine corporals are the commanding officers of marine fireteams._

 _ **OR3 – Lance Corporal:**_ _The lowest of the non-commissioned officer ranks._

 _Army and colonial guard lance corporals are the commanding officers of fireteams._

 _Marines who have specialised are granted the rank of lance corporal, just as soldiers who have specialised are granted the rank of private first class._

 _ **OR2 – Private First Class:**_ _Private first class is not a non-commissioned officer rank. Rather in the army and colonial guard it is the rank held by those privates that have begun to specialise their skills._

 _Snipers, demolition, tech and medic experts are the most common specialisations that see their holders advance from private to private first class._

 _All marines graduate with the rank of private first class due to their additional training and the nature of the marines as a specialist force._

 _ **OR1 - Private:**_ _Private is not a non-commissioned officer rank. Rather it is the rank held by the vast majority of the members of the Alliance army and colonial guard._

 _All soldiers who complete basic training and are accepted into the army are granted the rank of private, unless their training specifically allows them to enter with a higher rank._

 _As a specialist force, Alliance marines do not hold the rank of private, just as they do not hold the rank of 2_ _nd_ _lieutenant._

* * *

 **Timeline Changes So Far**

 _First colony on mars: 27 years earlier than canon_

 _Discovery of Prothean ruins: 64 years earlier than canon_

 _Founding of the Systems Alliance (council of nations version): 63 years earlier than canon_

 _The First Contact War: 45 years earlier than canon_


	10. Chapter 10

_Standard disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect, nor any other content that you recognise. Some characters and systems are original creations. I am receiving no money for my work._

* * *

 **Vancouver – Earth**

 **2112.10.17**

* * *

Fleet Admiral Thomas Carmichael, the First Space Lord, looked out of his window across the city of Vancouver and towards the sea. Vancouver had been chosen to host the Alliance's military command until Fleet Headquarters was finished. Construction had started 12 years ago, at the turn of the century and was due to be completed on time 60 years from now.

The moment he had been both expecting – and dreading – occurred as the door to his office opened and a metaphorical dragon came barrelling through. "CARMICHAEL! WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS SHIT ABOUT LEAVING MY SOLDIERS TO DIE?!"

Admiral Carmichael grimaced and thanked all the deity's he could think of that the First Sky Marshal, Field Marshal Anaya Khatri, couldn't actually breathe fire as she continued to verbally eviscerate him. Albeit at a lower volume.

"I have been pushing my logistics officers to the brink of nervous breakdowns to get an entire army group ready to go to war in 22 days! Shiva only knows how many lawsuits we are facing for requisitioning anything not bolted down! Troopships have been rushed out of the shipyards and completed on route – with dockyard staff we effectively kidnapped – and you wouldn't believe the ass I have had to kiss for calling in Jewish and Hindu contractors over Yom Kippur and Diwali as well. As if there weren't enough problems."

"Now, after all of the screaming, the bribes, the threats and the outright blackmail it's taken to knock 2 weeks off our mobilisation estimates, you're saying the useless fucking navy can't take them anywhere?!"

Admiral Carmichael appeared impassive in the face of her verbal assault. "The navy is ready to leave this very minute Anaya, we have reinforced the 2nd Fleet and Admiral Dresher reported she was ready to sail twelve days ago, we have been waiting for your army group to be ready. However…" The First Space Lord gestured behind him to the person seated in front of his desk, the person that the irate First Sky Marshal had blown passed in her fury.

Ambassador Shen Zenghong, the Peoples Republic of China's representative on the Alliance's Executive Council, sat there calmly. Unaffected by the First Sky Marshals anger. "Your troops, Field Marshal, will do their duty defending Shanxi and they will not be left to die. It is simply the case that the Peoples Republic of China will rescue our own citizens, we do not need to be rescued by your mongrel abomination of an army."

"You were a security blanket given to the smaller nations on the council, you were never supposed to lead us into war. How could you when you have a dozen different nationalities in each section? Your army group is welcome to assist the Peoples Liberation Army when they lead the assault to liberate Shanxi, but Chinese citizens will be saved by Chinese soldiers. Not by you."

The shock of what Ambassador Shen had said was so total that Field Marshal Khatri was actually rendered speechless.

"When, ambassador?" Admiral Carmichael remarked mildly. "You have used your allies on the Executive Council to defeat all the votes authorising us to take this war to the aggressors and liberate Shanxi, but in none of them have you ever stated when the Peoples Liberation Army will be ready to move. I must say, the speed at which you are converting cargo ships to carry troops is concerning. The Third Space Lord estimates that at the rate you're going it will be another three weeks before you will even have the carrying capacity. Since ships, shipyards and weapons are her life's work, I won't be the one to bet against her estimates."

"China will liberate her own, both without help and when we decide is appropriate. We will not stand for any interference in this matter, we never have done and your delusions of supernational authority will not change that." Ambassador Shen shut down the conversation, avoided the question and stood. "You have your orders Fleet Admiral, Field Marshal."

The First Sky Marshal stared daggers at his retreating back until the door closed behind the ambassador. "I'm going to have the Second Sky Marshal assassinate him."

"That wouldn't solve the problem Anaya." Admiral Carmichael remarked tiredly.

"It would make me feel better." Field Marshal Khatri muttered, collapsing into one of the chairs facing the window. "Can't the Americans bring them to heel?"

"Certainly." Admiral Carmichael replied. "But it will cost them, a lot. And they're not willing to spend that capital – political and otherwise – on peeling away China's allies now, when they can simply wait for Shanxi to fall and watch the Peoples Republic fall flat on its face in front of the entire world."

"Then they can swoop in as the saviours of humanity when the votes that they have been sponsoring for military action finally pass once China's allies abandon them, which they will when they see that their blocking actions have caused the fall and occupation of two human colonies. They'll all be afraid that their colonies will be next and China won't be able to give them anything to alleviate that fear and keep them onside, not when they've just lost one of their own colonies."

Thomas sighed and sat down in the chair next to Anaya, looking out over Vancouver. "The Americans won't do anything. Why would they? When action now will cost them a great deal, but waiting will bring about the result they want, the humiliation of their rival and give them a massive prestige boost into the bargain."

"As long as they think that we can defeat the aliens – which their joint chiefs are confident that we can – they have nothing to lose by waiting. Not even given the fact that it will take the fall of Shanxi and Zapala, they're Chinese and joint Mexican/Argentinian colonies being defended by Systems Alliance soldiers and sailors after all. None of their citizens or soldiers are in the firing line."

Anaya clenched her fists so hard that her nails dug into her palms and blood began to drip onto the fabric of the chair. "What are we going to do Thomas?" She hissed angrily, the betray of China and America bighting deep because she had genuinely thought that humanity had grown beyond this petty internal bickering.

The First Space Lord was quiet for some time before reaching before activating his comms, the sensitive nature of his position meant that his coms implant broadcast at a volume only he could hear, so Anaya could only hear one side of the conversation. "Connect me to the Second Space Lord. Sarah, how are you? I'm very well thank you. I was wondering, its been hard getting the fleets ready for this war, perhaps we could have dinner this evening? Oh, I'll book out the Dorchester for the entire Admiralty staff. Yes, that does mean that they'll be hundreds of people there, but I don't think that they'll begrudge us making the balcony space lords only. Well I was thinking that the sky marshals might like to join us, so it would actually be ten of us on the balcony while a few hundred officers fill the dining room and the rest of the hotel. Wonderful, I'll see you there at 19:00."

Field Marshal Anaya Khatri, First Sky Marshal of the Systems Alliance, felt very uncomfortable with the meeting Fleet Admiral Carmichael was setting up, and its implications. The thought of her soldiers on Shanxi, abandoned and dying when help was so close and ready to go, made her force that discomfort down and steel her resolve. She activated her own comm implant. "Connect me to the Second Sky Martial. Erwin, how are you?"

* * *

 **Hackenburg Sector – Shanxi**

 **2112.10.20**

* * *

Commander Atticus held on tightly to his support strap as he was rocked violently along with most of his troops. He listened in on the comms to check the progress of the third turian attack on the engineers battered wall of death as he approached his target.

"Those guns are ripping through our tanks Sub General!"

"Of course they are, they're fixed positions. Their cooling systems are massive, stop stating the obvious and keep up the pressure! We must draw their reinforcements here."

"We're getting slaughtered by machine gun fire, armoured support required in section 12."

"Armour is fighting for its life and is in no position to give support, artillery can you assist?"

"Section 12 friendly's. Hunker! Hunker! Command has called down friendly artillery fire on your position."

"Their fire is getting more ragged, we're pushing them hard in sector 4 Commander."

"This is sector 7! We have cleared three enemy bunkers and made it to fort Alpha's sortie doors. Breaching charges were insufficient, all armour with firing solutions lock on to infantry beacon 1-0-0-2-4-7-A-T-Z and fire!"

"All forces, this is General Sparatus. Armour, that infantry beacon has maximum priority, infantry be ready to exploit the opening. FIRE!"

"Breach! Breach! Penetration confirmed, we are entering enemy fort Alpha."

"All forces hunker! Incoming friendly air power."

"Respectfully, is that wise? The enemy anti-air net is…"

"Spirits! That's every fighter in the system!"

"This is missile artillery, we are ripple firing all tubes. Fighters, begin your attack runs."

"Have you ever seen so many missiles? Look, the fighters are launching as well, there's no way the engineers can get them all."

"Why aren't the fighters breaking off? Their heading straight in!"

"Target saturation! The General is trying to overwhelm the enemy AA defence through sheer numbers!"

"Spirits that's cold! It's working though, their getting through! But, the cost…."

Commander Atticus was brought back from the comms system by a huge bang and a wave of heat blasting through the open side door of the gunship. Outside, one of the other gunships in his force had exploded after being caught out by a sudden change in ground level and smashing into a tree. He quickly whispered a prayer for the spirits of its crew and passengers as the burning wreckage fell swiftly behind them.

He nearly lost his lunch as his own gunship suddenly lurched violently to the left to avoid a similar fate. The sudden sour smell of vomit let him know that not all of the troops in his gunship had been able to do the same. His gunships had been skimming the grass at head height for their entire approach and now, thanks to the sacrifice of the fighters and the launching of every missile the Legion had, the enemy AA was fully engaged as they rapidly closed in on the engineer's wall of death.

"Spirits protect us." Atticus muttered under his breath as the gunship force flew right at the small hills ahead. His hands tightened in fear on the straps helping him stand as they approached but thankfully none of his troops noticed. As General Sparatus had gambled, the engineers AA systems were overwhelmed with incoming missiles and missile bearing fighters which the system had prioritised. Holding his breath Atticus refused to close his eyes as his gunships flew unmolested over the fortified hills that made up the wall of death and approached the massive fortified doors that led into the engineer's forts and tunnel complex.

"Breaching charges!" Atticus yelled, jumping onto the ropes and sliding to the ground with the rest of the cabal forces. He almost sighed with relief despite the ground fire from the gun emplacements guarding the entrance chewing up the earth all around them. At least he could defend himself on the ground. His biotics threw up barriers giving him and the rest of the turian troops the cover that they needed to make it to the fort entrance as the gunships spun around and began blasting any hostile gun emplacement they could see with their rockets.

The engineers gun emplacements fell silent one by one, engulphed in explosions that lit up the hillside and sent shards of armour flying in all directions. The craters burned fiercely, filling the air with smoke and the scent of burning electronics and charred flesh as the demolition's experts attached breaching charges to every square centimetre one of the smaller doors.

They ignored the main vehicle doors on his order, he was taking no chances with the engineer fortifications strength. He hadn't come all this way to be left standing in front of a mauled – but still intact door – out of breaching charges. On Atticus's command the charges detonated, blasting the armoured door to pieces and allowing the gunships to quickly fire rockets into the room beyond to destroy any resistance. Atticus motioned his troops through the door as soon as the shockwave had passed, they ran into the engineer complex putting out the worst of the fires by their forced entrance as they ran passed.

Racing through the shattered entrance himself he passed through what seemed to be the charred remains of a guard post, then dived into the large marshalling yard that was where the engineer armour obviously assembled before charging out the main doors to give the turian forces hell. He took cover as his forces exchanged fire with the few surviving engineer guards.

"Quickly! We have to get this done before they swarm us. Orbital scans and intelligence predict four tunnels, one in each direction along the wall and two heading to the city, one rail and one large road tunnel. Don't waste explosives on the other two marshalling yards, go for the tunnels!" His cabal units nodded, remembering the briefing. Behind them regular troops hauled the large strategic demolition charges into the marshalling yard on grav sledges as the last of the engineer guards were eliminated with a cry and a spray of red blood.

Atticus's troops split into 5 groups. One set up to guard their hard-won entrance while the other three disappeared down the smaller tunnels with two grav sledges of explosives each. Atticus motioned the last three mass effect grav sledges to follow him and ran deeper into the engineer's fortress with his unit. He followed the largest tunnels away from the marshalling yard and deeper into the fort, trying not to jump at shadows.

It was difficult, this dam place had cost the lives of so many of his fellow turians, it had loomed larger than life in front of them ever since that first attack. Invulnerable, unbreakable, but now he was here, inside the nightmare of his brothers and sisters outside, and he was going to bring it crashing down. Well, he was actually going to collapse the road tunnel while his fellow demolition teams collapsed the smaller railway tunnels, but then there would be no way for the engineers to get reinforcements to the wall to defeat the Generals attack. Finally, finally, they would be able to punch through and rip out the throat of these damn primitives.

* * *

 **Hackenburg Sector – Shanxi**

 **2112.10.20**

* * *

General Williams listened with mounting anger to the comms as he led his battered armoured brigade towards Overage Hackenburg to counter the third dinobird attack.

"Redoubt St Claire is gone! Repeat: Redoubt St Claire is gone! She has been captured by enemy forces and is in flames. There is a breach in the Line, enemy armour is through! Repeat: enemy armour is through the Line and onto the city plains."

"Redoubt Colmar calling for assistance, the dinobirds are in! We are trying to push them out but they keep breaching new sally ports, reinforcements urgently requested."

"Casemate 14, their all over us. Wha… OH GOD IT'S A GRENADE! HELP US! HEL…"

"This is Major Petrovsky. General order: All units fall back to Overage Hackenburg, Redoubt Colmar is lost. Any of the garrison that can fight their way clear are to fall back, surviving guns are to focus on enemy motorised and armoured forces. Try and stop as many as you can from getting through the breaches and onto the city plains."

"The dinobirds are stopping us from retaking the fort entrance, their flooding the marshalling yards with some kind of Jedi dinobird!"

"What the fuck are you on about soldier? Jedi?"

"One of them glowed and threw a squad into the air! Their telekinetic, we've lost over a hundred people trying to get it back. They keep throwing our own grenades back at us and they've some form of magic blast that just rips you to pieces."

"Just keep up the pressure, we are on our way to you. But if we don't take back the fort entrance they'll have access to all of the tunnels and god only knows what…"

"EXPLOSIVES! EXPLOSIVES IN THE WESTERN RAIL TUN…"

The ground shook three times in succession before a fourth, massive blast rocked the tunnel he was racing down and knocked several bits of infrastructure loose from the roof to rain down on the charging tanks. General Williams closed his eyes, ignoring the clangs of falling masonry and light fittings raining down on his tanks before calling up his display, knowing what the monitoring systems would report. "The tunnel is sealed. Brigade all stop. Major Petrovsky, we cannot reinforce you. The Line is lost. Repeat: The line is lost."

He swallowed before giving the order that marked the beginning of the end. "General order: Abandon the Maginot Line, retreat to Qinghai. Hackenburg forces: Disengage as best you can and retreat over land. Lt. Colonel Kemal: Reverse your train and head back to the anti-air forts. Armoured brigade: Enter reverse gear nice and slowly, we are going to.."

The tunnel rocked again from a huge explosion. This time General Williams barely noticed the clangs of falling masonry on armour or the sudden smell of dust that filled his tank. He was too busy desperately trying to deny what his ears had told him about that blast, that it came from behind him.

"General! This is Spotter 3, one of the dinobird tanks that made it through the line sped right over the road tunnel and stopped about 500m behind you. They blew themselves sky high and collapsed the tunnel. Repeat: The tunnel is collapsed."

In the privacy of his command APC General Williams let his hands fall into his head in despair. There were emergency exits from the tunnel, but they were only wide enough for one tank at a time. Attempting a breakout through them against and form of opposition was suicidal. A second – more distant – explosion signalled the demise of the rail tunnel. Pulling himself together General Williams began issuing orders.

"Lt. Colonel Kemal: Lead your marines out of the rail tunnel emergency exits and retreat to Qinghai overland. Armoured brigade soldiers: Abandon your vehicles and do the same. Make for the nearest exit, if you encounter resistance, set up a perimeter to prevent the dinobirds from running down any forces retreating behind you." General Williams watched his displays as the marines quickly vanished from the rail tunnel and scattered towards Qinghai. His own troops were attempting to do the same, but they were encountering more and more resistance by the minute as dinobird forces finally achieved what they had been trying to do since that first attack and poured through the breaches in the Maginot Line.

The last emergency exit reported resistance barely 15 minuets after he gave the order to evacuate. The marines were long gone, but only a third of his armoured brigade's personnel had escaped. There rest were trapped down here with him and hundreds of suddenly useless tanks. "General order: let the record show that command of all forces in the Theta system has passed to Brigadier General Maria Soberon. She is now Officer Commanding: Theta as well as Officer Commanding: Zapala. Tactical command of all forces on Shanxi passes to Brigadier General Kai Jodl due to the deaths of generals Albricci and Xiao. Let the record state that he is now Officer Commanding: Shanxi and that I, Lieutenant General Williams, now command only the 53rd armoured brigade."

The acknowledgement of the two generals was simple and to the point. There was nothing left for them to say. General Williams waited with his soldiers to see what the dinobirds would do with them. He set up barricades with the tanks and APCs closest to the emergency exits in case the dinobirds were foolish enough to try and fight their way in, but there was nothing that he could do to stop them collapsing the whole tunnel on them. They must have loaded those two tanks with their biggest explosives to collapse the rear of tunnels from the surface and trap him. If they didn't have enough of them left to bring it all down would they just starve them out? Let his soldiers die of thirst?

It was a relief when a comm signal came in in the clear from Redoubt Colmar stopping his imagination from coming up with ever more outlandish fates for his brigade. Evidently the dinobirds had managed to capture the command centre – or at least the communications there – intact.

"Wish I to speak with leader of enemy forces." The voice was slow, halting and mechanical.

General Williams reached for his comms and was just about to activate it when he stopped and sat back in his chair. That wasn't him, not anymore. He waited for Maria to answer the dinobirds message.

"This is Brigadier General Maria Soberon of the Systems Alliance. I am listening."

"Do you give up?"

"No, we will not surrender. Neither here or on Zapala. We will defend our worlds from your unprovoked attacks till our last breaths."

General Williams wondered how much of Maria's response the dinobirds understood.

"Give up or buried troops die."

Evidently they understood enough.

"I will not surrender. Every life is precious to us, but I will not deliver two entire worlds to you to save a single brigade. Killing those soldiers will be a grave mistake on your part, we consider the killing of soldiers who have surrendered as murder and we will hunt you down to the ends of the galaxy for it. There will be nowhere you can hide from us."

There was silence for several minutes, as if the dinobirds were surprised by this answer. Not an acceptance of their demands, nor a rejection of their demands and acceptance of his soldier's deaths. But rather, a rejection of their demands and a threat of retribution for the death of his soldiers.

"Wish I to speak with leader of buried troops."

"I'm listening." General Williams responded, he was still the commanding officer of this brigade. No matter how little of it was left.

"Give up or you die. Pretend to give up, hurt us later and you die. Give up, later try to leave and you die. Give up and do not do as told and you die. Do you give up?"

General Williams stood up and straightened his uniform, before uttering the words that he knew would see him remembered and dammed for all of human history. "This is Lieutenant General Jack Williams of the Systems Alliance, Officer Commanding: 53rd Armoured Brigade. On behalf of all of the soldiers under my command, I surrender.

* * *

 **Aralakh System – Aralakh Cluster**

 **2112.10.21**

* * *

Captain Shiala T'Rana of the asari frigate _ARH_ _Eyes of the Goddess_ stared at the terminal in her private quarters as if it had personally offended her. In actual fact it was Matriarch Lidanya – commanding matriarch of the asari contingent of the Citadel Council DMZ Enforcement Fleet – that had personally offended her. She had received a call a few minutes ago from the Matriarch and had known that something was wrong before she even answered. Why would the Matriarch of the fleet call a frigate captain directly?

It turned out that the Matriarch of the fleet did that when the STG had something on her, and the STG were also interested in what one of the turian fleets was doing. Specifically, the Third Patrol Fleet, the one her bondmate just happened to serve in as a captain. Commanding both his own cruiser and the attached frigate varrenpacks he was more likely than most to have the information that the STG wanted.

The STG obviously knew this and thought that she could wheedle what was going on out of her bondmate using their personal connection, but as she had led a boring life, they had nothing on her. So, they had called in a favour from Matriarch Lidanya who had evidently not lead a boring life. The Matriarch had granted them their favour and had promptly lent heavily on her, leaving her in no doubt of her career prospects in the asari fleet if she didn't comply with STG's 'request'.

Shiala commed her bondmate, finally deciding to tell him that she was resigning her commission and would need to find another career, it was preferable to her to betraying his confidence to the Matriarch and the STG.

That was before Captain Palin Sidonis answered her call.

"Palin, what's wrong?" Shilala gasped at the sight of her bondmate. He looked totally haggard, his plates dull, fringe drooping. Even his eyes had a haunted and cloudy look to them.

"Absolutely nothing, everything is normal." Palin Sidonis replied robotically.

"Palin."

"EVERYTHING IS NORMAL!" Palin screamed at her making Shiala jump. "A good turian follows orders and my orders are no one can find out, even though it's all my fault."

He seemed to be muttering to himself more than speaking to her, so Shiala tried to comfort her bondmate. "Palin, what's happened? What's all your fault?"

Shiala could see the moment the guilt over his actions and desire to unburden himself to his bondmate broke the last shreds of his turian commitment to orders. "Death Shiala, so much death. Thousands killed or worse – burned alive – and it's all my fault."

Shiala's hands were shaking so she grabbed her desk to try and steady herself. "Palin, tell me everything."

* * *

 **Theta System – Centauri Veil**

 **2112.10.22**

* * *

Superior Captain Solona Kandros was commanding a battle group of 22 cruisers and 8 frigates. Unfortunately for her pride, the frigates were the only ones that were undamaged. The cruisers had all suffered engine damage during their entry to this system and rather than send them back to Lryae Asteria for repairs – where they could be seen – Admiral Arterius had instead assigned them as the guard force for the mass relay.

Here their varying degrees of difficulty moving would not be a major hinderance and they could be repaired whilst out of sight and still performing a necessary duty. Captain Kandros was reading the repair reports from her battle group when she was jerked out of her musings by an urgent report from her comms officer.

"Alert! Enemy FTL event detected: 28 cruisers and 2 dreadnoughts. It's the entire surviving enemy fleet Captain."

"Commodore Lalla Hansa" Superior Captain Kandros muttered to herself. With the translation programme finally at least partially working, she had searched the databanks of the destroyed enemy ships for information. Sadly, the anti-capture measures of the engineers – or humans as they called themselves – were exceptionally good, almost as good as salarian anti capture methods and they had reduced their computers to molten slag. The defeated crew, rescued from the destroyed ships, had been willing to tell her the name of her enemy. However, they usually did so while telling her in graphic detail about how the woman from a place called Morocco was going to turn her into a giant 'kentucky fried chicken', whatever that was.

In short, she had gotten very little tactical information on her opponent except that she had the trust and love of her sailors. Which was a statement in and of itself, the woman was competent. Unfortunately, she had already known that, the damaged state of her own ships and the shattered wrecks surrounding them were proof enough of that.

"Sensors: Where are they? Comms: What are the Admirals orders? Helm: Prepare for in system FTL jump." Her XO rattled off orders as Captain Kandros looked at the information flooding onto her display.

"Enemy forces have exited FTL at the split point for our supply convoys. They're hitting todays convoy before it splits to deliver supplies to both armies."

"Admiral Arterius is ordering all ships to FTL to the convoy and engage the enemy."

"Inform Admiral Arterius that I am using the discretionary authority granted to me as a Superior Captain to maintain my position. Signal the battlegroup: Hold position." The bridge fell dead silent as her orders registered. Turian naval doctrine did allow her to do what she had just done, unless she had been given a direct order from the Admiral for her battlegroup specifically, but it still came dangerously close to disobeying orders.

The Admiral commed her personally as soon as her reply reached him. "Solona, what are you doing?"

"You've read the reports of our technicians. These human ships aren't like the asari, they don't have two drive cores. That means that they can't hit and run like the asari, using one drive core to jump in – hit the target – and then immediately jump out gain using the second core while the first is still in cooldown. That means that just like us, they're restricted by the cooldown before they can go to FTL again, possibly with a core discharge stop as well if they've gone between systems. We can't be certain of that last part as we don't know the efficiency of their drive cores yet, but we can be certain that that human fleet is not leaving via FTL any time soon."

"So why has such a competent naval commander jumped into the middle of an overwhelming hostile force, knowing she won't be able to escape?" Macen completed her question for her.

"She wants us out of position. We are guarding something she desperately wants, and she is willing to sacrifice her entire fleet to get us to go to FTL to engage her and leave it unprotected. She's gambling that we will be restricted by the same cooldown she is and will never make it back to her target in time to stop whatever plan she has put into effect." Captain Kandros told the Admiral her theory.

"Comms: New orders! All ships are to maintain position except for _HWS Enforcer_ , our escorts, and squadrons four through eight. These forces are to perform an in system jump to engage the enemy." Admiral Arterius issued the new orders quickly before shutting down the comm.

Solona scoured the sensors looking for information. Those small scout boats had been jumping in and out of the system, watching them for weeks, but she was sure that there were other ships among them. You couldn't hide your thermal emissions, but you could minimise them to make you look like a smaller ship, deliberately sit in a radiation cloud to mask them amongst the other emissions, put an asteroid or other body between you and the enemy sensors, the list was nearly endless. There were many different ways to hide.

Her eyes were drawn to the human colony on the surface of the moon the relay was tidally locked to, and the dozen other moons that orbited the second ice giant here on the outer reaches of the system. "Sensors: Conduct an intense scan of the ice giant, focus specifically on the high radiation emission areas, priority to areas not covered recently by our patrols."

Solona winced as her display showed the last supply ship being destroyed just before _HWS Enforcer_ and her battle group dropped out of FTL and engaged Commodore Hansa's fleet. General Sparatus was going to scream bloody murder about the delay to her final attack that the loss of that convoy would cause.

"Scanning Captain." Sensors spoke up dubiously. "But I don't see how they could have gotten any ships so close, their FTL exit would have been a system wide flare."

The sensor officer was just confused so Captain Kandros decided to treat her questioning as a learning exercise rather than insubordination. "They could have been here from the very beginning – hiding – waiting for their chance. Just because it is unlikely doesn't mean that the enemy hasn't done it. Remember, when you don't know what their goals are something that seems insane to you could seem perfectly reasonable to them. This has been the…"

"I'm getting something Captain!" the entire bridge went dead silent again and looked at the sensor officer. Captain Kandros was sure that some of her junior officers had suffered whiplash from how quickly they had turned their heads. "It's very difficult to see, but I think something is emerging from the ice giant's radiation belt. It looks like ships, clarification: It's definitely ships, they have just gone to full sublight thrust. They must suspect that we have made them. I'm trying to clear it up and get class and number….triangulating with the rest of the battle group…Captain! 16 enemy cruisers incoming!"

Superior Captain Kandros grinned at the knowledge she was about to make Commodore Hansa's sacrifice worthless. 16 inferior human cruisers against 22 turian cruisers and 8 frigates wasn't even a contest. "Battle stations!"

* * *

 **Theta System – Centauri Veil**

 **2112.10.22**

* * *

Stephen Hackett franticly applied the emergency sealing foam from its fire extinguisher like container to the 30 cm crack in the CIC bulkhead of the _SSV Cardiff._ As the howling rush of air from the CIC finally stopped he took a moment to thank all the gods that his life wasn't going to end before he turned 19.

It took an amazing amount of energy to push through the relief and desire to rest and get himself back in the fight, but he managed it. Pushing himself off the bulkhead and trying to ignore the smoke that filled the CIC along with the metallic scent of human blood he floated towards the plot table and surveyed the remains of the CIC.

The emergency lighting and lack of gravity showed an almost total power loss. To be quite frank he wasn't even sure that they had reactors any more as one of the last things he remembered seeing was the emergency ejection system for fusion 1 engaging. It didn't seem that the rest of the Cardiff was going to be in any better condition if all of the compartments between the CIC and the hull were open to space.

As no one was saying anything, Hackett took the initiative as 1st Lieutenant. "Sound off, who's alive?" He spoke into the gloom, the red emergency lights turning into halos as the smoke in the CIC got thicker, evidently the atmospheric filters were down as well.

"Comms: I'm here." The first answer came as a groan from the back of the room, but Stephen was grateful for it. At least he wasn't the only one left.

"Weapons: I'm alive, not that there's much for me to do."

"Sensors: I've taken a lot of shrapnel down my left side, but I can function." Judging by the ribbons of blood floating in the zero gravity by the sensor station that was a small miracle. Lieutenant Hackett made a mental note to go straight to sensors as soon as he found where one of the medkits had ended up in this mess.

"Bridge: Nav is dead, I'm pinned by debris, but I can still reach the controls." Stephen closed his eyes to try and get rid of the image of Nav's laughing face from dinner in the mess yesterday. Her death would hit him hard later, but right now he needed to focus. Especially as the Captain hadn't responded to his call.

"Captain?" Lieutenant Hackett called out, floating over to her.

"Fuck!" He jerked back quickly as he saw the mess that razor-sharp bits of flying metal from the damaged bulkhead had made of Commander Sophia Thomas's throat. There was no need to check for a pulse, released from behind the Captain's body, large globes of blood began to float deeper into the CIC, mixing with the smoke and low red emergency lights to make what was supposed to be a clean and professional command centre look like something out of a cheap horror movie.

"The XO is dead too." Weapons called out from across the CIC, checking the dead Lt. Commander and the other unmoving CIC staff. "What are your orders Sir?"

The question hit Stephen Hackett like a freight train. With Commander Thomas and the XO dead, he was the officer of the deck until Lt. Commander Brooks made it to the CIC. Something he didn't think the chief engineer would be doing anytime soon with the Cardiff in this state, if she was even alive.

"Weapons: Go free Helm from the debris and take Nav's place. Sensors: take your time but I need to know what the status of the squadron is. Comms: connect me to engineering, the personal comms are down." The officers hurried to obey his orders, which did nothing to alleviate the growing panic Hackett felt in his chest but at least it proved he wasn't letting it show. He distracted himself by floating over to one of the first aid stations and began searching for its missing medkit.

"FUCK OFF SOPHIA!" At least the chief engineer was alive, and unharmed if the volume of her dulcet tones booming off the walls of the CIC was any indication.

"Commander Brooks: This is 1st Lieutenant Hackett, the Captain is dead." The silence on the other end of the line was total as Lt. Commander Brooks composed herself, she had served with Captain Thomas for a long time.

Eventually her response came. "The XO as well?"

"Yes Sir, I am now in command unless you can make it to the CIC or wish to transfer command to engineering." Lieutenant Hackett replied, fervently hoping that the chief engineer would do just that. He had always wanted his own command of course, but not so soon, and not like this.

"Ki…Sir, Cardiff has taken major damage. We have ejected fusion 1 and fusion 2 has gone into emergency shutdown, we are on auxiliary power only. Main engines are destroyed, auxiliary engines are down, the drive core is twitchy and we have hull breaches on all decks. Structural integrity is minimal, I'm afraid I have my hands full."

Hackett was supremely grateful that the chief engineer hadn't completed her first word, if he was now in command the last thing he needed was for the surviving CIC crew to be reminded that he was younger than all of them. "Prioritise repairs as you see fit Commander, I will contact you with new orders as soon as I know our situation." He shut off the comms and looked at the pale but determined sensor officer as he floated over to her, finally having located the missing medkit.

"How are you doing Valerie?" He asked kindly, setting to work putting medigel on the worst of her wounds. They'd heal around the shrapnel and a surgeon would have to dig them out later, but at least she wouldn't bleed out in the next few minutes once he was done.

"I'm ok sir." Ensign Valerie Clairemont hissed through gritted teeth, continuing to work her console as a distraction while the new CO worked on her wounds.

"Status of the squadron?"

"Their gone sir."

He paused for a moment as the dread settled in his stomach. "Did any make it through the relay?"

"Negative, I'm detecting 15 wrecks or debris fields. They got us all sir." Valerie replied heartbrokenly as Lieutenant Hackett restarted his treatment of her shrapnel wounds.

The hatred and despair in her voice was clear. The death of Commodore Hansa and her entire squadron had been in vain, they had charged headlong into a suicidal battle to give their cruiser force a chance to escape and inform the Admiralty of the desperate deterioration of the situation on Shanxi and deliver their analysis of the dinobirds and their ships, fleet strength and tactics. They'd failed. They'd waisted the chance that Commodore Hansa had bought for them with the lives of her entire squadron. "Why haven't they destroyed us sir?"

Stephen finished dealing with the worst of Ensign Clairemont's wounds and floated away from her, back towards the remains of the central plot table as he answered. "We're a cooling wreck, just like the others. Maybe their survivors are having the same discussions in their CIC's. I imagine they will blast us to pieces or board us in a few hours when they see that the minimal thermal emissions from life support and auxiliary power are not dissipating."

1st Lieutenant Stephen Hackett, Captain of the _SSV Cardiff_ , was ready to give up when he suddenly saw a data pad floating steadily across the CIC and he was hit with a sudden – insane – idea. "Sensors: What's our position? How close to the relay has our inertia taken us since the dinobirds decided they'd taken us out?"

Valerie sat up straighter at the question, losing some of her despair now that she could see her Captain had a plan. "Close sir, we've drifted passed the dinobird fleet. They will have to turn to engage us, which given that we destroyed their frigates and the rest of them have engine damage from the first battle will probably take some time."

"A lot more time, they're at a dead stop. For them to turn to face us with their damaged engines would take a full minute at best guess sir." Helm piped up from the bridge.

"Well I might not be familiar with this dam panel, but I can tell you that they will have to be bloody lucky to hit us with their secondary guns from a constantly manoeuvring ship inside a single minute, especially when we are out of their firing arcs for over half of that time. As for the relay, if I can get this bloody thing to display right – thanks Helm – we can make it on auxiliary engines, but only if we go in the next five minutes. After that we will pass the relay and we will have to turn or reverse to make it, they'll destroy us for sure." Weapons was rambling, but everyone's spirits lifted despite the blood and bodies of their dead colleagues floating around them as the smoke became thicker and the air became more stale.

Comms connected Stephen to engineering without even being asked. "Commander Brooks: Can we activate the auxiliary engines on auxiliary power?"

"Not a chance sir, it barely provides enough power to run life support and keep the drive core stable."

"Then I need you to perform a crash restart of fusion 2. We're making a run for the relay."

There was silence for a moment before Lt. Commander Brooks broke military protocol. "Are you fucking insane?! You want me to crash start a fusion reactor that went into emergency shutdown, fire up the engines on a ship that's got more compartments open to space than it has with atmo, and – just to top it off – take a ship that doesn't even have gravity through a mass relay and pray that what's left of the inertial dampeners don't give out?!."

1st Lieutenant Hackett took a deep breath and laid out his position. "Commander, the fleet is gone. The Commodore is dead. They sacrificed everything to give us the chance to get the tactical data and the plea for help to the Admiralty and we failed. The squadron has been destroyed. Either we do this and maybe, just maybe, we survive and make their sacrifice worthwhile, if, as you say, the reactor doesn't explode. And if the hull doesn't break apart and if we aren't all turned to a thin layer of jam on the bulkhead. But the alternative is surrender to the dinobirds, surrender when we still have the possibility of completing our mission and I will not stand for that. I am the Captain of the _SSV Cardiff_ and I am giving you a direct order. Can we do it?"

There was a moment when he seriously wondered if the chief engineer would mutiny, someone who had to openly state that they were in command was – at best – in a very precarious position. At worst they were screaming into the wind while everyone looked after themselves.

"Technically yes sir, but I cannot recommend it."

Commander Brooks finally responded, the reluctance to take either option clear in her voice. Fortunately for her, it was not her decision. She hadn't mutinied, Stephen Hackett was still Captain of the Cardiff. "You have your orders Commander, commence a crash restart of fusion 2 and activate the auxiliary engines immediately. Do what you can to keep us together."

"Aye aye sir."

The comm line went dead as Hackett took the position of the dead damage control officer. "Weapons: have Helm help you lay in the fastest course that doesn't put undue strain on the hull, Helm, be ready to go."

"Aye aye sir." Silence reined throughout the CIC as the surviving crew of the _SSV Cardiff_ waited and hoped. Suddenly the lights blasted back to full power, almost blinding them after being in the dark for so long.

"Fusion 2 is online!"

"Auxiliary engines are firing up!"

"Go Helm!" Lieutenant Hackett called out as soon as the auxiliary engines came online. The Cardiff screamed and groaned as she leaped forward and her hull was put under forces that no sane Captain would have subjected it to in its current state. But it held together, and despite the feeling of an elephant sitting on his chest letting him know that the inertial dampeners were far from 100%, they were holding together too.

"The dinobirds have noticed, their getting underway and beginning to turn." Valarie called out, her voice raw with excitement. Confident that this mad plan was actually going to work. Stephen wished he shared her certainty.

"Auxiliary engines at max, 40 seconds to relay." Helm reported, sounding amazed that the auxiliary engines, the hull the… well everything really… was still holding together.

"Enemy secondary guns have firing solutions." Weapons called out nervously from Nav's position.

"Relay has excepted destination request and is activating." Comms screamed out in joy.

"20 seconds to relay." Weapons gave a Nav update sounding more confident by the moment.

 _SSV Cardiff_ suddenly lurched sideways without warning, causing several of its surviving crew to black out from the unexpected Gforce as the sound of a massive explosion reverberated though the hull. "HIT! Catastrophic damage to rear sections! Fusion 2 has ejected, engine shutdown we are drifting." Lieutenant Hackett called out to the Captain, before remembering Sophia Thomas was gone and this was all on him.

"To late, we're close enough! The relay has hold of us." Valerie was hanging on to her console for dear life.

Lieutenant Hackett couldn't see any external sensor display, but he trusted his sensor officer. "Engineering: Dump the drive core and divert all power including life support to the inertial dampeners!"

"Hitting the relay in 8, 7, 6, 5"

"The drive core is gone!"

"2, 1,"

The shattered, mutilated wreck that was once the Systems Alliance cruiser _SSV Cardiff_ was flung across the galaxy before the helpless eyes of Solona Kandros's battle group. As they fired their main and secondary guns at the other wrecked human ships to vent their anger and to be sure that they were no longer a threat, no matter their appearance, a new proverb was created by the battlegroup's gunners. 'A humans not dead till you put a bullet in their head.'

* * *

 _Codex Entry: Humans – Human Military: The Space Lords and the Sky Marshals_

 _(Citadel Codex, First Human SPECTRE Collector's Edition, 2183)_

* * *

 _The five Space Lords are the branch leaders of the Alliance navy, together they form the leadership of the Admiralty and represent the navy in its dealings with the Minister of Defence, the Prime Minister and Parliament. They are also responsible for taking the general instructions and budget of the civilian leadership and turning them into a viable military strategy._

 _The five Sky Marshals perform the same duties for the Alliance army, forming the leadership of the General Staff. The Alliance marines and flying officers come under the control of the navy and as such are represented by the Space Lords._

 _ **The First Space Lord:**_ _In peacetime the first space lord is the highest ranked naval officer and is responsible for the entire navy. They are the public face of the navy to both the general population of the Alliance, and its civilian leadership in the form of Parliament and its Ministers._

 _The first space lord will also lead the navy through small border wars, as they are outranked only by the appointment of an Admiral of the Fleet by Parliament. An action that parliament only takes when it is clear that the Alliance is facing full scale total war. The navy's strategic direction, force structure, management and deployment are all the responsibility of the first space lord._

 _The First Sky Marshal performs the same duties for the Alliance army. These officers always hold the rank of fleet admiral and field marshal respectively._

 _ **The Second Space Lord:**_ _The second space lord heads Naval Intelligence Command and is also responsible for tactical planning. Filtering all of the data that NIC collects and passing the vital parts to the first space lord – so that they can plan the navy's strategy without total information overload – is one of the most vital roles in the entire navy, and the reason why the second space lord must always have the first's absolute trust._

 _Active naval officers are regularly subjected to combat exercises designed by the second space lord to keep them ready for battle against any threat that the second space lord believes might break into armed conflict._

 _The Second Sky Marshal controls the Army Intelligence Command and performs the same duties for the Alliance army. These officers always hold the rank of admiral and general respectively._

 _ **The Third Space Lord:**_ _The third space lord is responsible for the physical hardware of the Alliance navy. They oversee new construction, as decided upon by the first space lord, and are also responsible for the maintenance of the current fleet and the maintenance and security of the mothball anchorages._

 _The most critical part of their duties is their role as head of the Naval Research Department. Here new weapons, ships and any projects that may improve the fighting ability of the navy are researched and developed under the watchful eye of the third space lord._

 _The Third Sky Marshal heads the Army Research Department and performs the same duties for the Alliance army. These officers always hold the rank of vice admiral and captain general respectively._

 _ **The Fourth Space Lord:**_ _The fourth space lord is responsible for the personnel of the Alliance navy. They oversee both the recruitment of new personnel and the deployment, support and development of the navy's current manpower. Their most important duty is that of training as they are the head of the naval academies and boot camps._

 _The forth space lord works very closely with the second and third space lords, so that the training regime that the fourth space lord designs and implements produces officers and crew ready to man the ever-advancing ships of the Alliance navy and to protect the Alliance against any threats that may be on the horizon._

 _The Fourth Sky Marshal performs the same duties for the Alliance Army. These officers always hold the rank of rear admiral and lieutenant general respectively._

 _ **The Fifth Space Lord:**_ _The fifth space lord is responsible for all medical matters within the navy. This includes the general physical and mental health of the navy's personnel which can often bring them into conflict with the fourth space lord. As well as being head of the naval hospitals and hospital ships they are also the ultimate authority for the medical officers of the Alliance._

 _When the Chief Medical Officers of Alliance fleets and warships have had to use their authority to overrule their commanding officers, it is the fifth space lord that defends them should the regular officer's protest make it up to the first space lord. These conflicts with their colleagues tends to ensure that only very strong willed individuals ascend to the rank of fifth space lord._

 _The Fifth Sky Marshal performs the same duties for the Alliance army, multiple former first sky marshals confirm that they also tend to be very strong willed. These officers always hold the rank of rear admiral and lieutenant general respectively._

* * *

 _If you're confused about where those 16 human cruisers came from, re read chapter 4. Specifically, Commodore Hansa's preparations on 2112.09.28. I always try to let you guys know what's coming! :P_

 _To those readers who feel I am taking to long on Shanxi, I'm sorry but there is just so much that has to happen. Those few paragraphs in the mass effect codex cover so many developments its unreal. The Alliance goes from being a UN like agreement among independent members to its own democratic nation state FFS! And that event is only described with a single line in the codex!_

 _Those readers will be pleased to know that there are only three more chapters after this until the end of the first contact war. Then we will enter completely new territory as we speed towards Shepard at a much faster pace, setting the stage for SSV Normandy and Eden Prime._

* * *

 **Timeline Changes So Far**

 _First colony on mars: 27 years earlier than canon_

 _Discovery of Prothean ruins: 64 years earlier than canon_

 _Founding of the Systems Alliance (council of nations version): 63 years earlier than canon_

 _The First Contact War: 45 years earlier than canon_


	11. Chapter 11

_Standard disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect, nor any other content that you recognise. Some characters and systems are original creations. I am receiving no money for my work._

* * *

 **London – Earth**

 **2018.01.28**

* * *

 _Apologies for my long absence. I was badly injured at work before Christmas with damage to my left side, spine and left knee. Being in severe pain is not conductive to writing. Especially not when the painkillers give you a stomach ulcer and you end up sleeping in 3hr shifts due to the pain. But I'm slowly getting better, and I have enough energy to start writing again. So, you guys get a new chapter_

* * *

 **Zodiac System – Zodiac Group**

 **2112.10.24**

* * *

 _SSV Trafalgar_ slowly detached from the asteroid she had latched onto as a hiding place and began to feed power to her engines, careful to keep either this asteroid or one of its neighbours between her and the ship that her probes had detected. The little cluster of 12 asteroids caught in the gas giants orbit had proved to be the perfect hiding place for her and her companion vessel, _SSV Hastings,_ as they raided the alien supply convoys heading for the relay and Shanxi after being cut off when the aliens first appeared.

Only Trafalgar was left now. The Hastings had been destroyed a fortnight prior, trying to fight the enemy escorts rather than blow through them and hit the convoy. Trafalgar herself had only survived so long due to the skill and cunning of her Captain, but now she was close to following her sister ship. There wasn't a single part of her hull that wasn't dented or scratched, whole sections of armour were simply gone and the hull beneath was a twisted wreck opening entire compartments to space.

Her torpedo banks were long since exhausted and her supplies were running low due to a direct hit on one of the food storage compartments and the slow water loss from dozens of stress fractures and breaches in her battered water recycling system. The showers had been shut down a week ago.

Lieutenant Sirikit Walailak of the Systems Alliance marines strode confidently into the entry bay behind the main airlock to find the remaining five marines under her command ready and waiting for her. She took a moment to remember the other two who had been killed helping the crew with damage control.

"Aren't we helping with damage control this time Lieutenant?" her Sergeant asked. It was a fair question as they had been wearing their combat armour while helping, so as to allow the maximum number of naval crew to use the damage control team armour.

"Not this time Sergeant. The Captain has decided he wants to capture this target, if he can do so with minimal risk." Sirikit replied, tying up her long dark hair and putting on her helmet.

"Like Lt. Commander Bordey has ever been put off by risk."

Sirikit couldn't tell who had muttered that as she hadn't got her helmet fully on, so she made her reply general. "Stow it marines! Edouard Bordey has pulled us out of the fire so many times since we've been stuck here I've lost count. Any other CO and we would be dead by now, so just be grateful that the Captain's gambles have paid off and that we're still breathing."

There was an awkward silence as they remembered the fate of the Hastings. Her Captain had been a solid – competent – naval officer. But he had been a poor commerce raider. Captain Bordey had destroyed more alien supply ships, evaded more alien patrols, and kept them all alive and in the fight for far longer than any of them had ever thought possible when they saw the size of the alien fleet heading for Zapala and Shanxi.

"Sorry Lieutenant." It was her Corporal that spoke up and Sirikit glared at him with enough force that she was certain that he felt it through their armoured helmets. They staggered for a moment as the damaged inertial dampeners lagged behind Trafalgar's combat manoeuvres as she closed in on her prey.

"This ship apparently has a totally different design to any that we have encountered, and it has a giant oval hole in its centre. As such, the Captain doesn't think it's a military ship or a transport. It's most likely to be a civilian liner and so it should be a soft target. We're going to take advantage of that and raid it for water, food and information. As it's a civilian ship we will be trying to avoid killing anyone who isn't armed, but don't take any chances. If you think someone's a danger to you, put them down."

"Just bear in mind that this may be a passenger liner full of people on a cruise, but it could also be a requisitioned liner taking a high-ranking politician to inspect the invasion force, so anything from crowd control to live target capture may be required." Sirikit looked at all her marines standing to attention and absorbing every word. "Now, let's get ready to go hunting."

The marines checked their armaments and readied themselves by the airlock with the breaching charges Sirikit had brought from the armoury, ready to make a forced entry into the enemy ship. They knew what the enemy looked like, a sort of metal plated bird had sent unintelligible messages to them more than once during their convoy raids.

Probably either demanding their surrender or promising to kill them in a variety of painful and messy ways, no one knew. The point, for Lieutenant Walailak, was that the messages let her know that the aliens were human sized and shaped but much thinner. Centre mass of the upper chest shots would be both easiest to make and probably the most effective, so she had been drilling her marines relentlessly to do exactly that between raids.

"Lieutenant Walailak, we are activating the tractor beams and docking with the enemy vessel now. Proceed at….CONFIRM THAT!" The Captain's sudden conversation course change and the concern in his voice was a clear warning to the marines, as was the sudden violent shaking of the ship. They immediately dropped into combat crouches and pointed their weapons at the airlock.

"Lieutenant, it appears I have lead us into a trap. The enemy vessel has engaged its own tractor beams and has a solid hold of us, the engines can't break us free without tearing Trafalgar to pieces and they're dragging us towards their airlock. The crafty fuckers are also keeping us angled so we can't bring the guns to bear on any part of their ship, let alone their tractor emitters. I have activated the Cole Protocol. Prepare to repel borders." The anger in the Captain's voice was clear, and it was also clear to them all that it was directed solely at himself.

Sirikit didn't share it, she had fallen for the same trap as the Captain. She activated the ships anti-boarding measures and panels providing the defenders of the entry bay with solid cover and clear fields of fire to the airlock deployed from the floor, walls and ceiling.

"Our luck was always going to run out eventually sir, it can't be helped. We stand ready to repel boarder's sir." She replied, speaking as calmly as if she were discussing the weather in Bangkok. The last anti-boarding measure, the kinetic barrier, cut the room in half protecting the defenders from the shockwave and possible vacuum of the airlock being forcibly breached.

"Perhaps Lieutenant. Should I deploy armed crew in the damage control teams armour to your position? Or should I hold them back to defend engineering? I defer to your judgement in this matter." Sirikit took her place in cover as the Captain gave her options, still collected and in command even though they both knew the chances of them escaping this situation were virtually nil. She nodded in approval at her Sergeant's decision to place the unused breaching charges in front of their cover where they would function as makeshift claymores.

"Damage control suits are only armoured against flying debris, plasma and vacuum sir, they're not designed for combat. I suggest sending them to engineering, but they won't be needed. This alien scum will soon learn that no one passes an Alliance marine." Sirikit added the 'while they're still alive' silently in her head. Captain Bordey wasn't the only one who could project confidence despite realising that eventual defeat was a virtual certainty.

"Understood. Good hunting Lieutenant." Captain Bordey signed off as clunks came from the airlock indicating that Trafalgar was now docked with the enemy ship, or as close to docked as they could get with different airlock designs. Rather than the expected blast, the display panel besides the airlock lit up.

"Their trying to hack the airlock? Isn't that pretty much impossible if they don't know our systems? She directed her question at her Sergeant who was also her tech specialist.

"Possibly ma'am. It depends how used they are to interfacing with completely unknown systems, what the raw computing power available is for working out the access codes, and sheer dumb luck. If they have the computing power to brute force it, they could find the correct code on their third try or their thirty billionth try."

Sirikit looked at the emergency seal system which would melt the airlock hydraulics and keep it permanently closed, regretting she hadn't used it. It was unlikely the aliens were unable to breach the airlock though, so she refocused her sights and remained calm. "Be ready for grenades, remember your firing positions. I want a wall of fire as soon as the first one appears, don't give away our positions by firing before you see them."

The airlock doors sprang open and the marines tensed, ready to fire. No one was visible, no grenades came flying towards them. In fact, nothing happened.

At all.

There was a couple of minutes of silence before her Sergeant dared to whisper the question. "Where are they ma'am?"

Sirikit was concerned as well, more than she cared to admit. "Watch your flanks, they may have tactical cloaks." Her order calmed her marines, but not her. Even with tactical cloaks, they should have seen a disturbance in the kinetic barrier when the aliens passed through it, which they would have to do if they were attempting to close to melee range under cloak.

CLANG!

"Grenade!" The response from her youngest marine was instinctive as he ducked behind his cover and the others prepared to fire on the enemy charge that would surely follow the explosion.

"HOLD!" Sirikit didn't know what the alien's grenades looked like, but she did know what a gun looked like. And it looked suspiciously like someone had just thrown a pistol through the airlock.

Confused and tense, the marines waited thirty seconds before there was another clang and an assault rifle landed beside the pistol.

"What's going on ma'am?" her Corporal spoke up.

"I don't know, but don't lose focus." As Sirikit was speaking what she was fairly certain was an armour leg and boot piece joined the pistol and assault rifle. She activated her comms system.

"Captain, something strange is going on down here." A second leg piece joined the first, closely followed by an arm piece whilst she was speaking.

"Do you need those crewmembers Lieutenant? I can have them to your position in moments." The Captains voice was tense, clearly unhappy with being unable to help in what he assumed was a battle for his ships survival.

"The aliens have thrown a pistol, an assault rifle, and are in the process of throwing an entire set of body armour through the airlock sir." Another arm piece and a lower torso piece joined the set as she made her report.

"I think, I think they might be trying to negotiate."

"Negotiate." Captain Bordey's voice clearly conveyed his disbelief as an upper torso piece came flying through the airlock.

"Yes sir." A helmet came flying through and completed the set. "I think that they're trying to show us that whoever is about to appear in the airlock is unarmed and unarmoured. Marines: Return fire only."

The marines tensed as a figure now slowly entered the airlock, their hands behind their back.

"Lieutenant." Her Sergeants voice was clearly filled with worry as Sirikit left cover and took a step forward. It was too easy to conceal grenades or other offensive weapons with your hands in that position. There was a reason why the surrender position for humans involved open hands held well above your head.

"Easy Sergeant, that may be their versions of hands in the air." Sirikit took another step forward, trying to get a good look at the alien as they left their own ships airlock and entered Trafalgar's.

"Lieutenant, Sirikit! Don't take unnecessary risks!" Captain Bordey's fear that his friend was about to get herself killed in an alien trap was obvious, but Sirikit barely heard it. She was to busy focusing on what was in front of her.

"Captain, it's a different species." Dead silence met her words, both from her marines and from the Captain.

"Say again Lieutenant?"

"Confirmed Captain, the alien in front of me is not the same species as the ones who attacked us and have been sending us the messages as we raided their convoys." Sirikit knew that that didn't mean much in the grand scheme of things, they were still in the enemy system after all.

These aliens could be an overseer race, a client race, an ally of their enemy or an enemy of their enemy. All she knew for sure is that they weren't the aliens that had attacked them. That didn't tell her what they were.

"You have my complete confidence Lieutenant Walailak, proceed as you see fit." Captain Bordey's trust in her gave Sirikit a confidence boost as the blue, tentacle headed alien slowly and deliberately picked up the discarded helmet, placing it on their head before taking it off and placing it on the floor again.

Then they gestured at Sirikit, but strangely they used their elbow to do so, always keeping their hands pointed away from Sirikit and her marines.

"Don't fire unless I'm dead." Sirikit gave the order after a moment's thought, deciding that her life was worth less than the possibility of gaining an ally against the bird like invaders. Or at least not causing the Alliance to fight a two-front war by accident.

"Lieutenant!"

Sirikit didn't have time to explain herself. "Do not fire unless I am dead. Confirm command."

"Command confirmed ma'am." The response was slow and steeped with frustration and anger, but it came.

Sirikit released her helmet clamps and slowly placed her helmet on the floor with the aliens.

The alien stretched its lips in what would be a toothless smile on a human, but Sirikit had no idea what it meant on them. The alien moved slowly towards her, finally allowing its hands to face her as it brought them up to either side of her head. Touching her hair, seemingly fascinated by it.

"Ma'am!"

"You have your orders!" Sirikit replied harshly, partially due to her own fear at the situation and partially because she could see this situation going south very quickly and degenerating into another war for the Alliance. She refused to be the officer responsible for doing that to humanity.

The alien seemingly lost interest in her hair and instead cupped her face with their hands, if they were human Sirikit would expect a slow, romantic kiss from the alien with their hands in this position. Instead the alien moved their forehead towards hers until they were touching. Then, they looked into her eyes and whispered two words that Sirikit couldn't understand.

" _Embrace Eternity"_

Lieutenant Sirikit Walailak felt a pressure suddenly in her head, she decided not to resist and then her world went black.

* * *

 **The Citadel – Serpent Nebula**

 **2112.10.26**

* * *

Corinthus Oraka was trying desperately to control his anger and not start throwing all of the fantastically expensive – and delicate – ornaments in the Council's private meeting chambers at the wall display. "WHAT ON PALAVEN DID ARTERIUS AND SPARATUS THINK THEY WERE DOING?"

His flanged voice echoed off the walls of the highly secure and soundproofed chamber. "DIDN'T THEY STOP TO THINK? AT ANY POINT?!"

Matriarch Tevos Calis had served as the asari's Citadel Councillor for the last twenty years and in all of that time she had never once been flustered, unless it suited her purposes to appear so. Uncontrolled emotion was an anathema to her style of negotiation and governance, which gave some indication of how angry she had to be to be glowing violently blue while ornaments near her shuddered and rattled ominously.

"I take it that means that you are denying that the Hierarchy had any knowledge of this warmongering travesty then?" Despite her appearance, Councillor Tevos's voice was as calm and honeyed as it had always been.

"I know absolutely nothing, and neither does the Primarch or I would have been informed. This is not an action that we would have attempted to hide from the Citadel if we had had a valid reason for undertaking it in the first place." The fury burned brightly in Councillor Oraka's voice, his fellow councillors weren't sure which was worse for him.

The fact that a turian fleet had disobeyed orders so blatantly, or the fact that they had bolloxed up their disobedience so profoundly that even the STG couldn't figure out what their actual war goals were at this point.

The report had come in from the Special Task Group headquarters on Sur'Kesh, flagged maximum priority with endorsement of the most senior salarian and asari admirals attached to the Council Krogan DMZ Fleet. It had required the personal authorisation codes of the asari and salarian councillors to open and it was recommended that the turian councillor not be present.

Tevos and Tolan had ignored that recommendation and had invited Oraka to be present with them, believing that they should at least appear to be a unified team at all times. Even if that appearance had been merely polite theatre at several points since the creation of the Citadel Council.

The summary that had been revealed to them had prompted Oraka's outburst.

Turian Third Patrol Fleet (Citadel Fleet - Krogan DMZ) is engaged in hostile action against an unknown species. Turian casualties reportedly heavy. Goals, unknown. Logistic expenditure suggests possible genocide/war of extermination. Unable to obtain primary source data. Investigation continues, suggest immediate action to halt attack. Unknown race casualties estimated to be catastrophic.

Councillor Tevos let out a little huff of disbelief at her turian counterpart's denial and completely ignored Oraka's return glare as she turned to the third councillor present. "I didn't get past the first paragraph Tolen, the one that explains that – as usual – the turian fleets first reaction to an unknown problem is to shoot it, shoot it again, shoot it some more, and then finally considering asking a question. Before deciding to go back to shooting."

The salarian councillor, Sur'Kesh Ledra Inoste Heranon Jarun Tolan, was a male specifically hatched to imprint on all of the Salarian Union's clans dalatrass' and be equally loyal to all of them. He was currently ploughing through the data in the report at a rate neither of his colleagues could match.

"Very bad. New race fleet totally destroyed. Army being ground down but exacting heavy toll. Turian artillery targeting everything, including ALL civilian buildings on secondary colony. Possible genocidal motives? Tactical motives? Unknown. Need more data." Councillor Tolan muttered a response as he continued through the STG projections and theories based on the data available to them.

"This is a political nightmare." Councillor Tevos groaned, for an asari twenty years in the job was like being in your first week for a turian, or first few hours for a salarian. As soon as the news got out that on her watch as councillor, a fleet from a fellow Council race – operating under Council authority in an area under direct Citadel administration no less – had gone rogue and attacked a newly discovered species before a peaceful first contact could be made, the Asari Republics were going to go into a collective meltdown.

The fact that the fleet smashing dozens of Citadel laws to pieces was from the race primarily charged with enforcing those laws was just the icing on the cake.

The maidens were going to riot at the unfairness of the turian attack, and the hostility it was going to create in an exciting new area of space to explore. The matrons were going to resent both that and the fallout from the economic shock that was sure to ensue, once the markets learned what had happened. The matriarchs were going to resent all of those things and be furious at the failure of the asari divide and rule strategy when it came to the other two Council races.

All of them were going to be enraged by the loss of face from an asari headed Citadel Council losing control of a Citadel Fleet, and attacking an innocent new race before they could add them to their millennia long cultural domination program. After the immediate shock to the markets the asari economy as a whole was going to go into meltdown from the protests and counter protests. Several influential matriarchs and Republics that had lobbied hard for Tevos's election were going to get severe blowback from this, as her opponents tried to lay this at her door.

Personally surviving this mess and keeping her position as councillor was going to cost Tevos a lot of favours and the sacrifice of several of her allies. On a galactic scale, once the dust had settled, the asari were going to demand blood from the turians and the turians were going to refuse. Claiming that as they disobeyed orders, the offending officers weren't true turians. While they were both at loggerheads the initiative and bargaining power would land squarely in the salarians lap and they had always worried the asari more than the turians had.

Oblivious to the most senior councillors internal wargaming and damage control checklist – trying to anticipate enough of both their and the galaxies reactions to ensure that the asari came out of this mess as well as could be expected – the other two councillors continued to analyse the report.

"Why? Why are they doing this!?" Oraka muttered incredulously.

"Power gone to heads perhaps? Engaged in empire building? Subjugate new race and rule from orbit with absolute power?" Tolan didn't even look up as he franticly ran simulations on his omnitool.

"No turian banner officer would do that!" Oraka responded hotly.

"Alternative explanation for third patrol fleets actions?"

"Perhaps the one given by this Captain Sidonis? It seems to match with the reports from the asari commando team that boarded this… _SSV Trafalgar."_ Tevos muttered taking a long drink of soothing, and very expensive, tea from Thessia as she re-entered the conversation. The aroma of the tea spread throughout the room, bringing a sense of normality back to the proceedings, even if the reality was far from normal.

"Best case scenario. Agreed." Tolan responded, giving his full attention to his fellow councillors for the first time.

"And isn't that a depressing statement." Oraka muttered rubbing his aching mandibles from the litany of horrors that was the STG report.

"Can't rely on it however." Tolan continued. "Must show strength and action. Potential consequences for Citadel dire if command to halt and retreat sent, ignored, and are left unable to respond to mutiny for days. Diplomatic consequences with new race in this scenario also, problematic."

"You want to send another fleet. One powerful enough to make them back down and submit to us for judgement if Arterius and Sparatus really have gone rogue and refuse to obey direct orders from the Council and the Primarch." Councillor Oraka sounded physically pained at the idea of an entire turian fleet and army legion disobeying the orders of the Council and their Primarch. The fact that he wasn't incandescent with rage at such a suggestion was an indication of how badly Third Patrol Fleet had messed up if they actually were still loyal to the Citadel.

"How long will that take to assemble?" Councillor Tevos was frustrated and angry. "The longer this drags on the worse domestic opinion is going to get when it comes out, to say nothing of our relations with this new race. We can take the prestige hit of them refusing to join. Though it would be painful, disappointing, and a tragic loss to the galaxy if it occurred that's not the issue. The new race being left with a deep, unshakable hatred of us and a dedication to undermine the Citadel and get revenge is."

"If they decide to embark on that course, whatever the cost, it will be a nightmare that will haunt our successors for centuries, especially with their territory so close to the Krogan DMZ. The batarians are bad enough and they are actually an associate race! A non-associate race, giving every possible support to every tin pot terminus government, pirate gang, mercenary company and slaver ring that promises to make life miserable for us will be an utter nightmare."

The asari matriarch swept up and down the small room, as she spoke. Again, the sudden anger visible in her usually unreadable body language let the other two councillors know just how badly she was taking this.

"We have to stop this now. We need to order the Third Patrol Fleet to stand down and retreat as fast as possible and then send our unreserved apologies to this new race. Then we need to begin an extensive diplomatic damage control programme, an economic reparations package and a species-specific charm offensive to try and see what we can salvage from this debacle."

Councillor Tevos's secondary calculation was – as always – both true and perfectly tailored to the situation. Her primary motivation, that the faster this situation was resolved the less damage would occur to her in particular, the asari's diplomatic standing among the associate races in general, and the Asari Republics galactic reputation, never passed her lips.

"Better a slower response that is certain to succeed than a fast response with a high probability of failure." Tolan repeated. "Failure will multiply problems exponentially. MUST have sufficient force to destroy Third Patrol Fleet if they have actually gone rogue."

Tevos looked from one of her colleagues to the other before sighing and giving in to the unified front her colleagues were presenting. It was clear to her that neither of them would countenance sending the withdrawal order until they had a military force in place that was capable of enforcing it if it became necessary. She decided to extract what concessions she could.

"I do not agree, but if the two of you are set in this course then we should assemble the fleet as fast as possible. But the fleet will be under the overall command of an asari ambassador and we will recall Matriarch Lidanya from the Krogan DMZ to take tactical command. I will not have another military officer making this situation worse because all they see are nails to be hammered down and fail to understand the benefit of talking."

Councillor Tolan blinked several times, running probabilities. "Agreed, if we give her the new Citadel Council bannership. It does not yet have a commanding officer, but it has completed its space trials. If we are going to make a statement it should be as overwhelming and dramatic as possible. Incompetent or mutinous, these officers must be brought to heel. Everyone must see them crushed or else risk other ambitious officers taking unacceptable actions, hoping we will approve if they present a fait accompli."

Councillor Tevos bristled internally at the Salarian Union effectively assigning the commanding officer of the most powerful asari ship in the galaxy, but she simply adopted as serene smile. "As you wish Tolan, I'll contact Thessia and let them know that the Density Ascension will be beginning her duties a little ahead of schedule.

* * *

 **Neptune – Sol System**

 **2112.10.27**

* * *

Brigadier General Anna Kempa stood proudly in the centre of the command centre of Hermes Station, a massive Alliance complex on the surface of Neptune's moon Triton. As the heart of the FTL comm buoy network, this was where every FTL message entered or left Sol. Along of course with the 'secret' backup facilitiy that every government knew about and the two ultra-secret facilities that nobody knew about.

Regardless, baring its destruction and the activation of any one of the backup facilities, any message that entered of left Sol, from the highest priority military order to the most meaningless Instagram update, either came through Hermes as the lynchpin of the FTL network, or it went via courier boat direct to its destination.

General Kempa sweated as the Second Sky Martial, General Erwin Schmitz strode into her command centre with his own command staff.

"General Kempa, at this time I am authorised to take command of Hermes Station from you." The Second Sky Martial was direct and to the point.

"Sir, at this time I am authorised to surrender command of Hermes Station to you." General Kempa responded professionally before lowering her voice. "Though if I may ask sir, what brings you out here in person?" Her voice didn't crack as she watched her loyal command staff replaced by the officers that General Schmitz had brought with him, but it came close.

The Second Sky Marshal gestured to the commanding officer's office, the one that until moments ago had been hers. He explained as soon as the door closed behind them. "We are instituting a total communications blackout General Kempa. Nothing enters the Sol System, and nothing leaves. At least, nothing that is not specifically authorised by us. We have been broadcasting our intentions and enough information to give the enemies intelligence agencies wet dreams and it has to stop if we are to preserve any advantage that we might still have in this war."

"Things like government orders of teabags are a threat sir?" Genera Kempa's voice practically dripped with scepticism, knowing exactly how unimportant the vast majority of the communications that came through Hermes Station every day were.

"Yes. From government tea consumption you can determine the size of the colonial government and thus determine the population of the colony. From that you can make a decent guess at the military forces assigned to guard the location, take into account other factors that might affect the garrison forces such as positioning on the front lines and industrial output, and suddenly you have a plan of attack that allows you to dispatch only the forces you reasonably expect to need. Allowing you to conduct more attacks with the additional forces you have available that you would likely have had to commit to that first attack were you facing a completely unknown garrison force."

General Kempa swallowed as she was forcibly reminded that the Second Sky Martial and the Second Space Lord controlled the two wings of military intelligence. "Understood sir. How can we help?"

"You've run this station exceptionally well in peacetime General." General Schmitz replied in a much more conciliatory tone. "I need your help determining what is the absolute minimum of messages we can allow through to keep the Alliance functioning while still keeping the volume down to something that our censors here on Hermes can deal with."

"Get settled in sir. I will have a preliminary report ready for you in two hours." General Kempa saluted and retreated from the office.

General Erwin Schmitz sighed in relief once the person that had been one of the biggest wildcards in this entire mad scheme had left the office. Once he was certain he would not be disturbed for a few moments he activated his comm implant. "Anaya? Its done."

* * *

 **Vancouver – Earth**

 **2112.10.27**

* * *

The First Space Lord, Fleet Admiral Thomas Carmichael stood at his window, watching as the riots exploded across Vancouver. The continued lack of movement from the Alliance Executive Council was causing riots around the globe, both in support of holding back the Alliance military from counter attacking and against it. The analysis sat on his desk, telling him that the riots in favour of action got larger every day, but the intransigence of the Chinese Communist Party meant that they would have no effect until it was far to late.

The door to his office opened and Admiral Carmichael used the reflection in the glass of the window to see who had entered.

"Do you know why we are called the Space Lords?" he asked his visitor.

"Actually, I never looked into it." First Sky Marshal Anaya Khatri looked as grateful as he did for the distraction.

"Great Britain and Japan lobbied very hard for it, they spent a lot more political capital than they should have done getting it agreed as well. But both are constitutional monarchies with an intensely proud naval tradition. They wanted the highest naval offices in the Alliance to reflect their culture, their own little mark on an Alliance that was shaping up to be overwhelmingly Chinese and American."

"India did the same." Anaya responded with a smile. "Getting us called the Sky Marshals. Not because it had any special significance for us, but because we wanted to piss off both the Americans and the Chinese."

They watched the city in silence, lit up by the flickering light of fires set by the rioters. It was several minutes before Thomas Carmichael spoke again. "Do you want to know something else Anaya? Britain was so stable for most of the 18th and 19th centuries because we didn't have a standing army kept at home. The small army we did have was always somewhere else in the Empire. While other nations fell to revolution and civil war, we didn't. Because there was no army at home for the government to use or for its challengers co-opt. We were defended by the Royal Navy, and with their guns unable to reach more than a few miles inland, well, there's no such thing as a naval dictatorship."

Admiral Carmichael shook his head ruefully, self-loathing shining through. "How ironic that it's a British Admiral that finally proves that statement wrong."

"Its not entirely your fault. My army has just taken control of Hermes Station after all, not your navy." Anaya placed her hand on her friend's shoulder in a gesture of support.

Admiral Carmichael looked down at the report that had been in his hand before his army counterpart had even entered the room. He knew what it said, and despite the vital nature of her mission, he still secretly wished that the blunt Scottish battleaxe that was Admiral Sarah Jardine, the Second Space Lord, had failed her assignment.

If she had then this terrible decision, forced on both of them by squabbling superpowers, would be out of their hands. "Admiral Jardine has just taken command of the garrison forces at the Charon Relay as well. They have orders to fire on any ship attempting to leave Sol. We've done it Anaya. No message enters or leaves Sol without our permission. Everything human, be it colony, station or ship beyond that relay is under our direct control."

Anaya Khatri grimaced as she looked at the report from Admiral Jardine. "The Executive Council didn't leave us any choice Thomas. If we don't act now, then the Systems Alliance is going to fall apart into the squabbling nation states that they're acting like while alien – ALIEN – forces try to kick in our front door. We have to act, and we have to act now. If we don't then Vishnu only knows what will happen to us, maybe it will be a peace with honour. But maybe we will be a client race, be slaves, or be exterminated."

The Field Marshal swallowed, the enormity of the moment suddenly bearing down on her. "The only thing that I am certain of is that we can only win this together. My ancestors didn't unite when yours arrived and India spent the next two centuries under British rule. We can't make the same mistake. Win or lose, we have go to Shanxi now. Together. Or accept that the dream of a unified human front is dead, because it will be if those colonies fall."

Admiral Carmichael stood straighter at the impassioned plea from his counterpart and friend and activated his comm implant. "Hermes Station, this is Fleet Admiral Carmichael, First Space Lord. Connect me to Admiral Drescher.

* * *

 **Arcturus – Home Sector**

 **2112.10.27**

* * *

Admiral Katrine Drescher, commanding officer of the Alliance 2nd Fleet, looked at the deactivated comms terminal in her ready room before turning to her Flag Lieutenant. As the only person available to her who had engaged the aliens in person, and for showing superb judgment and command ability in a crisis while never giving up, she had promoted First Lieutenant Stephen Hackett, formerly of the _SSV Cardiff,_ to the position of her flag lieutenant.

In that position he would organise her reports, take her messages, and be a glorified secretary. But he would also learn how to command a fleet, how to manage people, and now it seemed, how to disobey orders.

"Permission to speak freely is given Lieutenant." It was better to get this out in the open now before it had time to fester.

"I have no objections Admiral." Stephen Hackett's response was sincere. Which was both surprising and worrying to Admiral Drescher.

"None?"

"None. The SA academy tried to put us through as many moral conflicts as possible as part of our training, they wanted to teach us that soldiers are not machines, that they have to decide whether an order is moral or not, and whether to obey or to refuse and arrest the officer giving it on charges of war crimes. The order to leave the civilians on Shanxi to die so that the Peoples Republic of China can maintain its political standing with its domestic population is not a moral one, and it has no military justification. Now that the First Space Lord and First Sky Marshal have given us this chance it is incumbent on us to take it."

Admiral Drescher smiled, pleasantly surprised and ranking Stephen Hackett even higher in her personal estimation. Officers who disobeyed orders at the drop of a hat were even more dangerous than those who obeyed orders to carry out war crimes. "I'm glad that you see it that way Lieutenant. And that you understand that sometimes military necessity will require us to carry out orders we don't like, and we don't understand, immediately and without question. This time however, there military necessity is on the other side of the coin. I don't think I have to explain to you how rarely that will occur."

Flag Lieutenant Hackett stood straighter as Admiral Drescher's warning was received and understood. "I understand ma'am."

"Good."

Admiral Drescher strode confidently out of her ready room into the flag CIC of the Everest class dreadnought _SSV Cotopaxi_ , flagship of the Alliance 2nd Fleet. She took a moment to take in the display in the central holo tank.

There, in all their glory, were the three dreadnoughts the Alliance had, _SSV Everest, SSV Cotopaxi_ and _SSV Kilimanjaro._ Though the Everest was without her attendant 1st fleet, which had been left behind to guard Sol System and Earth, the entire combined might of the Alliance 2nd and 3rd Fleets hung in space around the dreadnoughts. Home sector and Expansion sector had been stripped bare, across the entire Alliance only Sol had any guard forces larger than a cruiser detachment left. But it was all worth it, to see 1,635 Systems Alliance warships in formation and ready to unleash the wrath of the humans on the dinobirds that had dared to invade their space.

"Comms: Put me on fleetwide."

"Y-yes ma'am." Comms stuttered a moment as they realised the only order the Admiral was likely to broadcast fleetwide. "You are on fleetwide Admiral."

"Attention 2nd and 3rd Fleets of the Systems Alliance. This is your Admiral. I know many of you have been frustrated by the wait, first for the army to be ready to leave and then by the Executive Council's bickering. Well I can now inform you that the Council has finally gotten its head out of its arse and we have finally been authorised to prosecute this war."

"From now on, we are the Grand Fleet of the Systems Alliance, and our orders are to first liberate Shanxi and Zapala, and then chase these aliens back where they came from. I expect all ships to be ready to sail within the hour. It's four days to the Theta System and I want to give these dinobirds a Halloween horror story that they will never forget!"

* * *

 _Codex Entry: Species Naming Conventions – The Council Races_

 _(Citadel Codex, First Human SPECTRE Collector's Edition, 2183)_

* * *

 _ **Asari:**_ _The asari have two names, a personal name which comes first, followed by a family name. An asari is referred to by their personal name in all but formal circumstances. Upon bonding, the asari parent keeps their family name and passes it on to their daughters. Their bondmate may also take the asari's family name but an asari will almost never take the name of their bondmate. To do so has the same level of contempt attached as bonding with another asari._

 _Members of the Council of Matriarchs are only ever referred to by their personal names unless you are specifically commenting on the matriarch's family. To refer to a matriarch with both names, or worse by their family name alone, is to insinuate that the matriarch is not powerful or influential enough to be recognised by only their given name._

 _Several powerful aliens have made lifelong enemies of asari matriarchs by never bothering to learn this fact before meeting them. They then accidentally insulted the matriarch in the worst possible way, declaring with their opening words that they believed the matriarch was powerless and irrelevant._

 _ **Turians:**_ _Turians also have two names, a given name first followed by a clan name. Reflecting on the turian mindset that the whole is more important than the individual, turians are almost always referred to by their given names._

 _Only the most highly regarded turians are referred to by their clan names, a reflection that with such a high level of power and responsibility on their shoulders, they are representing their clan at all times._

 _ **Salarians:**_ _The Salarian naming conventions are the most complicated in the galaxy, exceeding even the quarians_ _._ _A salarians full name will contain at least six names, in order these are the salarians homeworld, nation, city, district, clan name and given name_ _._

 _Except on formal documents a salarian will be referred to by their given name. As their naming conventions are the reverse order of most species, those salarians who have extensive contact with other species regularly tell them their given and clan names the wrong way around when introducing themselves. This prevents the salarian having to spend valuable time explaining to the aliens that they are using the wrong name when addressing them though the aliens own naming conventions._

 _A classic example are the humans who address people by profession and clan name or just the given name, though this species has its own problems given that several of its cultures follow the salarian convention of clan name followed by given name, but the majority follow the asari and turian conventions of given name followed by clan name._

 _A contradiction that has many Citadel diplomats and businessmen screaming in frustration as they cannot tell the humans that follow the salarian conventions apart by sight from the others._

* * *

 **Timeline changes so far**

 _First colony on mars: 27 years earlier than cannon_

 _Discovery of Prothean ruins: 64 years earlier than cannon_

 _Founding of the Systems Alliance (council of nations version): 63 years earlier than cannon_

 _First Contact War: 45 years earlier than cannon_


	12. Chapter 12

_Standard disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect, nor any other content that you recognise. Some characters and systems are original creations. I am receiving no money for my work._

* * *

 **Shanxi – Theta System**

 **2112.10.31**

* * *

Marcel Styles huddled down in the trench he was standing in as more soil rained down on him from a near miss, trying desperately to keep himself together even as the kinetic barriers overhead flared from the constant dinobird artillery bombardment.

His section was gone, shattered in the total rout of Hackenburg sector and the resulting frantic overland retreat to Qinghai. He knew that Master Sergeant Adams was dead, and so was over half of the rest of his section. The few soldiers of his unit that remained had attached themselves to whatever unit they had staggered into the reserve trenches with, just as he had.

An Alliance city's Reserve Lines were their last line of defence. A set of three zig zaging trench lines – usually hidden from sight of the civilian population with holograms – they were protected with kinetic barriers and formed a thin, three deep defence line between each of the 6 flak towers. With their cruiser grade barriers and armour protecting their heavy flak and artillery guns, the flak towers were the anchor points of the reserve line, giving the otherwise weak trenches the chance to appreciably slow a determined attack.

Designed to prevent the nightmare scenario of an enemy force that had somehow bypassed both the Maginot Line and the air defences, the reserve lines stopped any force that had landed on the city plains behind the Maginot Line from rushing straight passed the flak towers and into the city. That said, the reserve lines were predicted to hold an enemy advance for only a few hours, a day at the most.

The garrison commanding officer was supposed to use that time to organise an evacuation of civilians into the shelter network while counter attacking with other forces. They were definitely not supposed to rely on the city's Reserve Lines to defend the city for more than 24 hours.

The dinobirds attack on Qinghai's Reserve Lines had entered its 4th day eight hours ago.

The artillery pieces of the flak towers had fired constantly – day and night – trying to keep the dinobird forces from massing too easily and to cut their supply lines whenever they could. The flak guns themselves hadn't been idle either, shooting down wave after wave of gunships, fighters and missiles that had tried to overwhelm the tattered remnants of the Shanxi garrison.

On the ground, despite the near suicidal resistance of the Alliance forces, the dinobirds had pushed forward. Nowhere had they been stopped or forced to retreat. The dinobirds had punched multiple holes in the 1st trench line on the first day of their attack and the line collapsed in its entirety at the start of the second day.

Holes began to open in the 2nd trench line that evening but its defenders had held on longer, that line hadn't finally collapsed until late yesterday afternoon. Now, on the fourth day, only the 3rd trench line remained. The dinobirds had been pushing hard since daybreak. They hadn't tried a night attack since learning the hard way that the Alliances' sensor jamming tech was perfectly capable of rendering them electronically blind. That, coupled with the lesson that their night vision systems were just as vulnerable to having search lights trained on the troops wearing it as the human's systems were, had resulted in a bloody end to the dinobirds only attempt at a night attack.

But with the sunrise the dinobirds had smashed into the single remaining defence line with a fanatical fury that shook the morale of even the most dedicated Alliance soldier.

Marcel ducked down into the trench and tried to steady his breathing, determinedly not focusing on the large number of unmoving bodies littering the floor, blood pooling from the wounds that had killed them and attracting flies even as the battle raged.

Above, another shot rang out from the tank turret behind him. As the Alliance had been unable to miniaturise kinetic barriers enough to fit them to tanks or soldiers armour yet, the few tanks that hadn't been with General Williams when he had been trapped and forced to surrender were woefully outmatched by the dinobirds hovertanks.

Rather than waste them in a futile counter attack, General Jodl had ordered them buried. Not dug in, buried. With only its turret above ground the Alliance tank acted as a fortified anti-tank gun, giving Marcel and his infantry some much needed cover from the dinobird hovertanks and APCs. Cover that had kept them all alive far longer than they should have lasted.

"LIEUTEN…"

The body of one of his soldiers slammed down into the trench next to him, missing their head from a dinobird sniper round. Marcel screamed as he franticly tried to wipe the blood from his helmets visor, self-loathing burning through him as the warm, wet feeling spreading down his legs let him know that he had pissed himself in fear. His breath came in shuddering gasps as he sobbed and desperately tried to get himself back under control. The terrified 2nd lieutenant slowly – shakily – stood and peeked over the parapet of the trench. Looking for the danger that his now dead comrade had tried to warn him of.

He took several deep breaths and reactivated his outgoing coms. "The dinobirds are making another push. On your feet everyone! Keep them back!"

Focusing on one target at a time Marcel kept up a stream of fire, inwardly marvelling that neither his pants wetting fear, nor his tears had leaked into his voice as he called his unit to the parapet. Dinobirds died under his fire, but too slowly. Far too slowly. The kinetic barriers in their armour were keeping them alive under fire that would have wiped out an entire Alliance squad.

"Keep it up!" Marcel yelled into his comms as the fire from his area of the trench began to tail off. He hoped that it was just because his soldiers were taking cover from the withering fire from the advancing dinobird troops, if it wasn't it meant that most of his new command was dead already.

He aimed for the centre mass of the closest enemy and held the trigger down, quickly burning through his thermal clip, but also – mercifully – the enemy's kinetic barrier. There was a loud crack as the armour gave way, then a cry of pain before the dinobird collapsed in a spray of blue blood as Marcel's rounds finally found a clear path to their flesh.

"BREACH! BREACH! BR…"

Marcel watched in horror as a few dozen meters south a dinobird leaped down into the trench, followed by a second, and a third. There was no answering fire from that area any more.

Marcel abandoned his post and ran, blood thundering in his hears, terror giving him a burst of strength and speed he didn't think he had left. There was no point holding his position now. Tearing through the zig zaging trench line he burst around the corner to his objective, the group of dinobird troops that had just leaped down into the trench.

Nine dinobirds were clustered there now, crowded into the trench and about to sweep out in both directions. They fired as soon as they saw him, and Marcel felt his left side light up in agony as their rounds punched through his armour while he franticly tried to stop his forward momentum and throw himself back the way he had come.

It was too late for the dinobird troops, the belt of four grenades that Marcel had thrown as soon as he had burst around the corner landed at their feet and exploded. Shrapnel overloaded their kinetic barriers and punched through their armour as the napalm from the two incendiary grenades clung to them, burning intensely and melting their damaged armour into their flesh.

"Breach….contained…" Marcel whispered fiercely into his comms as he grinned at the screams of the dying dinobird troops, the sickly smell of burning meat filled the trench along with smoke from their burning bodies. The fear soon returned as he saw the stream of napalm flowing across the trench, away from the now silent enemy troops and towards him. He tried to crawl away, but he could only scream as his left arm collapsed under his body weight. The agony sent 2nd Lieutenant Styles screaming into oblivion as the stream of napalm continued to expand across the trench.

* * *

 **Pax System – Horse Head Nebula**

 **2112.10.31**

* * *

Admiral Katrine Drescher stood at the plot table in the centre of the multi-tiered pit that was the flag CIC of the _SSV Cotopaxi_. Before her, the fleet was arranged in the highly unconventional – and completely untested – formation which she had ordered in an attempt to make her assault on the Theta system as successful as possible.

Her Flag Lieutenant, Stephen Hackett, looked at the display with a great deal of scepticism. Keeping his voice low, so as not to be heard by the other officers and crew he attempted to respectfully question his Admiral again.

"Admiral, this has never been attempted before. Most people would consider it to be borderline lunacy, I just don't understand why you think it's necessary?"

Admiral Drescher smirked as she watched Flag Lieutenant Hackett attempt to tell her that he thought her fleet formation was batshit insane in a respectful manner. It was encouraging to her. Respectfully questioning superiors – in appropriate settings – kept those superiors on their toes, and made it more likely that the fleet command structure would spot vulnerabilities in themselves before the enemy did.

"Because Lieutenant, as you are aware both from your own experiences with them and the telemetry from Commodore Hansa's battles, the enemy commander is disturbingly competent. I have no doubt that if I attempt to force the relay in a traditional manner, I will lead this fleet straight into a trap.

A trap that we might not be able to fight our way our of, despite our superior numbers. This formation will neutralise the positioning that I would have ordered the enemy forces to take up were I defending the relay against this fleet, and had the same information available to me as we believe the enemy commander does."

The Admiral concealed her concern from her subordinate well. It was true that this method of relay assault would neutralise most of the defensive formations that she would have chosen had she been in the enemy commander's shoes, but it also left her acutely vulnerable if they had done something that she wasn't expecting. She sighed, looking at the display again.

War was a series of gambles, all you could do was make your best guess as to what the enemy was doing and react accordingly. Well, unless you had a Lord of the Rings style palantir. But as much as the intelligence services tried, they could never be as accurate as a fictional magical seeing stone, which meant that military commanders were always working on incomplete information. Information that had also been filtered through a dozen people's assumptions and unconscious bias's.

On reflection perhaps calling war a series of gambles was implying far more certainty in the decision-making process than was deserved. A series of random stabs in semi darkness was probably more appropriate, unless you had the stunning breakthrough such as that managed by Alan Turing at Bletchley Park available to you. Namely, breaking the enemy codes and being able to read all of their transmissions as they sent them.

Now that was the real version of a palantir, and an advantage Admiral Drescher would happily kill for right now.

"Where is my enemy? What are their numbers? What are they doing?" She muttered to Lieutenant Hackett. "These are the questions that you are going to be asking throughout your career. How well you are able to answer them will be the biggest factor in determining whether your forces will be led to victory or defeat."

Stephen swallowed and nodded in recognition as he stared at the fleet display. Worry gripped his belly, this whole plan rested on the fleets mass attractor beams. Known as 'tractor beams' for short, these were dense mass effect fields created by the drive core in the mass attractor beam emitter arrays.

The emitter arrays then projected the intense gravity well that resulted in a specific direction, pulling everything in that direction towards the centre of the gravity beam, and thus towards the ship. The fleet's tractor beams had never been used in the way Admiral Drescher was using them now, if they failed at any point then the fleet could be left scattered, easily overwhelmed and destroyed.

"Dispatch the fireships."

Flag Lieutenant Hackett was brought back to the present with a jerk as on the Admiral's order the 4 specialist relay assault ships began to move towards the relay. Across the Grand Fleet crews were called to action stations, damage control teams got into their armour and the medbays prepared for casualties. 31 days after it fell to the dinobirds, the Alliance attempt to liberate the Theta system had begun.

* * *

 **Theta System – Centauri Veil**

 **2112.10.31**

* * *

Admiral Macen Arterius was sleeping fitfully on the camp bed installed in his office just off the banner bridge of _HWS Enforcer._ The escape of the human ship nine days ago had been a revelation for him.

Undoubtedly it had been carrying technical data on his ships, their capabilities, his fleet numbers, positioning and as much data on the turians themselves and the ground battles as the engineers had. That had not been the revelation for him. Rather the revelation had been that Commodore Hansa had sacrificed her entire fleet to give that ship a chance to escape.

There was only one reason he could deduce for that sacrifice to be worthwhile, the aliens homeworld was not in this cluster. Rather it was through the relay, and stationed at their homeworld was a fleet that the Commodore believed was capable of defeating him in battle.

It seemed more and more likely that Commodore Hansa had been commanding the engineer's version of his own patrol fleet. A turian battle fleet contained 400 more warships than a patrol fleet, so he had taken that as a low estimate and assumed that there were one or two additional engineer patrol fleets that could join with their home fleet.

This meant that he could expect anything from 300 – 800 warships to be sailing to engage him in battle. With Third Patrol Fleet's combat losses, the upper ends of that estimate would leave him outnumbered 2:1, a ratio that would seriously start to eat into his technological advantage.

Fortunately, the Admiral had two other advantages. First, the engineer fleet had to come through the relay, so he knew its emergence location. Second, thanks to Commodore Hansa's chosen method of attack and his own scientist's investigation of the wrecks, he knew the most vulnerable aspect of the engineer's ships. Behind and below.

Within a day of the escape of the human ship Admiral Arterius had completely redeployed the fleet. Third Patrol Fleet was now almost entirely massed at the relay, and it was split into three sections.

Half of the fleet was centred around _HWS Enforcer_ and positioned 180 degrees lateral and 45 degrees ventral to the relay, behind and below. Exactly the same position as Commodore Hansa had taken. The Admiral knew that his new opponent would suspect this of him, were he in their position he would counter this by transiting the relay upside down to prevent turian warships from attacking the weaker ventral aspect of his force.

To prevent this countermeasure from succeeding he had positioned a quarter of the fleet under the command of Superior Captain Kandros at 45 degrees lateral and 45 degrees dorsal to the relay. Above, ahead and to the right. The remaining quarter was placed under the command of Superior Captain Nyx at 115 degrees lateral and 45 degrees dorsal to the relay. Above, ahead and to the left.

When the engineer fleet arrived, it would find itself under heavy fire from three directions. All of which were completely free of turian ships, allowing each of the three groups to fire without worrying about hitting their comrades in the crossfire. With fire coming from behind, below, above, ahead right and ahead left, the weakest stern and ventral aspects of the engineer's ships would be taking heavy fire whether the enemy commander decided to come through the relay upside down or not.

They would also be unable to concentrate their guardian arrays on any single attack vector, nor turn to engage the forces behind them without exposing their vulnerable sterns to the forces ahead of them.

All of the turian banner officers were agreed. The trap was set, and it would be a total massacre for the engineer's forces. His battle simulators told him that, his banner officers told him that, his history and tactical training told him that. Yet Macen Arterius still couldn't shake the fear that somehow the engineers would surprise him again, which was why his sleep was so fitful as he waited for the hammer to fall on Third Patrol Fleet.

"Battle Stations!" The alert siren had him leaping out of bed and through the doors into the banner bridge.

"Report!" Admiral Arterius barked as he took his position at the command podium in the centre of the banner bridge, elevated above the tactical holotank and in full view of his crew. None of them commented on the state of his uniform, rather they seem reassured to see him. The confidence boost due to his presence warmed his heart a litte.

"Four ships have emerged Admiral, they're performing such high gravity manoeuvres that its highly likely that they're automated."

"Targeting systems are having difficulty locking on, enemy ships are still moving at speeds outside survivable organic limits and it's throwing off our calculations."

Several turian ships fired anyway, but their shots went well wide of the human vessels. The targeting computers weren't calibrated for ships to be able to move that fast because usually they couldn't. Not if they didn't want their organic crews turned into jam on the bulkheads. The guardian array's targeting computers were, but those ships were well out of range of the point defence lasers and could probably have shrugged off any damage that they could have inflicted anyway.

"Recalibrating, firing solutions in 10 seconds."

"Enemy vessels are slowing and….Huge explosions present at former locations of enemy vessels Admiral."

"Thank you, crewman." Arterius looked down at the tactical display. The four drone ships had detonated at points equidistant from the relay before detonating so that they could engulph the entire area around it in a huge blast of hard radiation and heat. Had his ships been positioned closer to the relay, they would have most likely been badly damaged and they would certainly have been blinded, leaving them unable to target any force following the drones through.

The explosions also had the benefit of clearing away any minefield he might have laid. Mining the relay was against Citadel law, but the engineers didn't know that, and emerging from the relay straight into a minefield was a scenario to give any halfway competent fleet commander nightmares.

"Well, it seems that they have the equivalent of nova bombs and that the competence of Commodore Hansa was the rule and not the exception for their commanding officers. Prepare to engage enemy forces, they will be emerging any moment now." Admiral Arterius watched as the reminder that the engineers had just used a turian relay assault tactic and that Third Patrol Fleet had soundly defeated the last engineer officer to engage them soothed any doubts among his banner crew.

"Enemy forces exiting relay." Sensors called out calmly, confident in the positioning and skill of the turian fleet.

"Opening fire, all forward guns." Tactical grinned at the rest of the crew as the unmistakable sound of Enforcer's main gun firing rang through the banner bridge. There were more than a few subdued hisses of pleasure from those crewmembers that had friends among General Sparatus's legion.

"Enemy forces are inverted, just as you expected Admiral, they are upside down relative to us." Sensors reported again, a sense of smugness permeated the banner bridge like a creeping mist. Their Admiral had outplayed the engineer commander and the engineer's fleet was going to pay the price.

Space near the relay lit up with electric blue lightning as the first shots from the turian fleet slammed into the kinetic barriers of the emerging engineer ships. Soon they began returning the favour and it was the forward groups of the turian fleet's turn to have their barriers lit up by incoming fire. Fire that got heavier by the minute as engineer ships continued to emerge from the relay and join the battle.

"Forward groups are taking fire." Comms reported calmly, it was what everyone expected. They might have outplayed the engineers, but none of them expected the stubborn species to go down without a fight.

 _HWS Enforcer_ suddenly rocked violently. There was silence across the banner bridge. The shot hadn't even dented the kinetic barriers, the sound reverberating through the ship told them that. But the engineers were firing on the forward groups of the fleet, they shouldn't be able to fire at them. Enforcer rocked again and again the shock reverberated around the room more than the sound of the impact did.

"We are taking fire Admiral!" Damage control finally managed to find their wits and reported what they had all realised as they monitored the barrier readouts on their console.

"How? Enemy forces are already engaging the forward fleet groups, they haven't had time to turn!" Helm called out with absolute certainty and utter confusion. They, better than anyone else on the banner bridge, knew exactly how fast a turian ship could turn. There was no way a turian ship could have turned to fire on Enforcer this quickly, and if they couldn't manage it, how on Palaven had the engineers?

"ENEMY FORCES HAVE DRAGGED A THIRD OF THEIR FLEET BACKWARDS THROUGH THE RELAY! A FULL THIRD OF THE ENEMY FLEET IS FACING US!" Sensors screamed in panic. The total and utter shock of seeing something they had believed totally impossible unfolding before their eyes overcoming their training.

The banner bridge froze. Officers simply stared at sensors in shock, _Enforcer_ took three more hits before most of them managed to recover themselves and start to do their duties again. But this time their movements were quicker and sharper, there was more than a little fear motivating them.

The horrified scream of the sensor operator was like a cold claw grabbing Macen Arterius's heart. He pulled up the display to show the fleet in more detail and realised that his sensor operator wasn't hallucinating, every two ships coming through the relay normally were using their tractor beams to drag a third ship between them, pulling it through the relay backwards.

Far from being trapped and unable to turn to face his main force without exposing their sterns to his two forward forces, the engineer fleet was able to engage all three groups of his forces simultaneously. No turning under fire or exposing of vulnerable sterns required.

Engineer ships continued to pour through the relay in groups of three. Emerging, disengaging their tractor beams and then throwing themselves into battle. Firing up their engines and accelerating to join one of the formations that were engaging the turians and covering their emergence.

"STAY FOCUSED!" Macen's voice barked out loud and clear across the banner bridge as he saw his crew's actions becoming more frantic. They paused and then continued their duties in a more controlled and resolute manner restoring order. "The enemy commander may be clinically insane; the engineers may have avoided our trap by transiting the relay in such a way as to neutralise our positioning and we may be taking more damage than we had hoped.

A coolant pipe chose that moment to burst as another round slammed into Enforcer. Hissing pouring thick white gas to pour into the banner bridge as if to give lie to the Admiral's words. He gritted his teeth and continued as the white gas began to collect around his crew's ankles. "We may well be taking more damage than we had hoped. But we are still turian. Or warships are the best, are crews are the best. Stand tall and return fire."

A form of calm fell over the banner bridge as the Admiral managed to quell his crews concerns once again.

"And someone shut that coolant leak off!"

Well, he'd quelled some of their concerns.

"Enemy fleet count is 3-7-9 ships and rising." Tactical reported looking to the Admiral for conformation.

Macen nodded and comms sent out the order to launch across the fleet. The majority of the engineer fleet must be here now, it was time to strike.

"Fighters are deploying, orders are to intercept the enemy's oversized ship to ship torpedoes rather than attack." Comms reported the conformation of the order.

"Prioritising enemy pocket dreadnoughts for return fire." Tactical called out, getting a grip on the situation as the engineer fleet began to divide into three distinct parts as it picked up speed, one facing each of the turian formations.

"Enemy frigates are breaking off for an attack run on our fleet." Sensors called out, noticing what Tactical had missed while focusing on the engineer's big guns.

"Order our own frigates to intercept." Admiral Arterius snapped quickly. "Remember these aliens use their frigates to deliver torpedoes, not just to screen their cruisers."

Across the turian fleet frigates broke their escort formation and abandoned their cruisers, sailing at full speed towards the spear of engineer frigates that had broken away from the main body of their fleet and were approaching them at high speed.

"Interception force dispatched. They should catch the enemy frigates outside of their torpedo range." Comms called out in relief.

"Confirmed, enemy torpedo strike will be intercepted before it can threaten the battle line." Tactical grinned. The engineers relied on their frigate delivered torpedoes to give their underpowered and inferior fleets some extra punch. With them intercepted well outside of launch range, the engineer fleet just lost one of its biggest cards. They would have to learn that they were facing the most professional military force in the galaxy and that their cute little tricks wouldn't work twice. This fleet wasn't manned by batarians after all.

"Looks like we're out of luck, enemy force count is 8-9-1 ships and rising. It seems the fleet will be larger than the worst-case scenario predictions." Sensors reported with an undertone of worry. They had recovered from their original panic, but the situation continued to deteriorate, no matter what Tactical kept saying whenever another engineer ship winked off the display. They were being replaced faster than they were being destroyed. A lot faster.

Macen Arterius winced as the ratio of enemy ships to his own exceeded 2:1 and kept rising, his only consolation was the number of enemy ships that were already shattered wrecks. The larger guns and better technology of the turian ships proving their worth against the more primitive engineer designs as Tactical rightly kept pointing out, boosting morale. But beneath his confident exterior fear was beginning to grow. Sensors was right as well; the engineer ships were being replaced faster than they were being destroyed and their fleet continued to grow rapidly.

"Admiral, somethings wrong. The warbook is reclassifying the enemy ships. Enemy dreadnoughts are being reclassified as something called a heavy cruiser." Tactical called out in confusion, staring at a readout on their console that they'd never seen before, not even at the academy.

"What?" The icy claw gripped Macen's heart again as he snapped out the query.

"Sensors have confirmed the presence of 126 pocket dreadnoughts and rising. The warbook is stating that the fleet ratios are all wrong for them to actually be dreadnoughts sir, it's reclassifying them as some sort of super cruiser that was only ever built by the suit rats. I mean the Quarian Federation sir." Tactical reported with derision. It was no wonder than they'd never seen this readout before. If the last race to deploy heavy cruisers had been the suit rats, then they wouldn't have been found anywhere outside their pirate fleet in the last 250 years.

"Admiral, Superior Captain Nyx is requesting support. The fire the engineers are pouring on the forward left section of the fleet is intense, her ships are taking heavy damage." Comms reported, their voice still professional but the undercurrents were showing that they were having a hard time maintain that professionalism.

"Captain Kandros is reporting the same, every ship they destroy is replaced by a new arrival. Captain Kandros is having difficulty holding them." Tactical's voice had changed as well. The derision of only moments before gone as the state of the two smaller turian forces captured their attention.

"Enemy fleet count is 1-1-6-2 ships and rising." Sensors reported, gripping their console so hard that their hands turned light blue.

 _HWS Enforcer_ suddenly groaned and pitched hard to her port side as one of her escorting cruisers lost containment and detonated in a huge fireball, her fusion reactors had lost containment and hadn't been ejected in time. They'd consumed the ship. The crew of the banner bridge staggered back to their stations, franticly trying to bring things under control.

"Admiral we are beginning to take damage, Enforcers barriers are down to 67%, multiple ships destroyed, dozens are reporting heavy damage." Damage control called out before running to replace a circuit breaker that blew while they were talking. Showering a corner of the banner bridge in sparks and adding smoke to the white gas already up to their knees.

"Captain Nyx's forces are breaking, too many of his ships are damaged or destroyed. Holes are opening in his formation." Comms reported. Any sense of normality gone as what had seemed like an easy victory turned into a disaster in front of their eyes despite everything they did to try and stop it.

"Enemy frigates are making a torpedo attack on Captain Nyx! The left formation is collapsing!" Tactical called out in horror, as if they couldn't believe what they were seeing.

A spear of frigates accelerated away from the forward port Alliance formation, this time there was no interception force to stop them. They raced forwards towards the distracted ships of Captain Nyx's command before deploying into an arrowhead formation, as they passed firing range torpedo trails blossomed from them as they peeled away and fled back to the safety of their formation.

The torpedoes continued on their way, diving down on the distracted turian ships. Guardian arrays fired but they were being controlled by individual ships, formation wide coordination had broken down. Dozens of torpedoes died, blasted out of space by the turian lasers. But many more got through, far too many. Explosions blossomed all over the turian formation as the torpedoes hit home, plunging through barriers and tearing apart armour. Ripping open the hulls of ships that were already fighting for their lives and dozens lost that fight, detonating in fireballs or disintegrating into clouds of debris as they were finally overwhelmed.

" _HWS_ _Spirits Wings_ has been destroyed Admiral. Captain Nyx is dead. The left formation has shattered, the survivors are no longer combat capable. They're fighting as individual ships." Comms reported the devastating news. The panic had drained away, now there was only depression and failure in their voice. Damage Control actually dropped the fire extinguisher they were holding from the shock, they had expected things to get bad when the engineers kept pulling surprises out of their butts. But none of them had expected this.

"DREADNOUGHTS! Three enemy dreadnoughts just exited the relay Admiral, length 8-8-8-m main guns are predicted to be the equivalent of _Enforcer's_." Sensors reported, they had gone beyond shock and now spoke in a toneless drawl. As if they were already dead.

A round from the new arrivals that suddenly didn't seem so primitive anymore slammed into the bannership and the lights noticeably dimmed before coming back to full brightness as the shockwaves damaged the power distribution systems.

"Correction, enemy dreadnoughts main gun confirmed to be equivalent to _Enforcer's_." Tactical called out in disbelief, shaking their head as if that would make the catastrophe unfolding in front of them disappear.

"Enemy fleet count has levelled off 1-2-9-8 not counting destroyed ships." Sensors reported lifelessly.

The Admiral opened his mouth to bark that this battle was still winnable, that they were turians – the spear of the Citadel – and that they would not be defeated in open battle. But the words wouldn't come. All he could see were the flattened fringe's of his crew and the destruction of ship after ship on the tactical map.

Far too many of those destroyed ships were turian, his ships had been taking fire since the start of the battle and it was showing but they had nowhere to go, whereas the fresher engineer ships were moving in front of their damaged first arrivals, protecting them from turian fire that could have easily finished them off.

"The enemy left formation is ignoring the remnants of Captain Nyx's command. They're moving to support their right formation and pincer Captain Kandros Admiral." Comms reported pleadingly. Looking at their Admiral do to something – anything – to turn this battle around.

There was no desperate plea for assistance from Superior Captain Kandros. She was turian, and she would follow her orders to engage the enemy fleet no matter the chances of success, or survival. She had already reported that she couldn't hold even before the total collapse of Captain Nyx's force. Now, faced with double the enemy ships, caught in a pincer, and with two dreadnoughts firing on her, her very rapid defeat was assured.

Then those engineer forces would turn to support the third of their formations, the one currently engaging his own command. _HWS Enforcer_ would find herself facing down three dreadnoughts, and her fleet would be outnumbered by more than 5:1.

Admiral Macen Arterius frantically sought some solution, some great military trick that would let him snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, just like in the stories of the Krogan Rebellions. But there was nothing. Third Patrol Fleet had been outnumbered, outgunned and outmanoeuvred from the beginning, and now it had been outfought.

"Tactical: Fleetwide order. Cease fire." The oppressive cloud of failure fell like an anvil across the banner bridge as the last sliver of hope that maybe – just maybe – their Admiral would still be able bring them victory was finally crushed. Admiral Arterius gripped the railings of his command podium hard enough to leave impressions in the metal as he gathered the courage to issue his final order.

"Comms: Broadcast in the clear at the enemy ships, use the engi….. use the human language. Signal our surrender."

First the turian and then the human guns fell silent across the battling fleets. As Admiral Arterius's surrender was accepted, marine boarding craft left the human ships and headed towards their turian counterparts. With their arrival the Third Patrol Fleet became the first turian fleet to surrender since the end of the Krogan Rebellions 1,300 years before.

* * *

 _Codex Entry: Human Technological Inferiority in the Relay 314 Incident (First Contact War)_

 _(Citadel Codex, First Human SPECTRE Collector's Edition, 2183)_

* * *

 _When the Relay 314 Incident (First Contact War) began in 2112, humans had only known about the mass effect for 28 years. That they were able to produce warships capable of standing up to Citadel designs at all is a testament to the human mastery of engineering. But even that skill couldn't hide the fact that a race that had known of the mass effect for less than three decades was battling a race that had known about the mass effect for over a thousand years._

 _Though the human mass effect guns had the same length to firepower ratio as all other citadel races guns, human ships were smaller than their turian equivalents. Which resulted in the human ships being outgunned when going up against turian formations unless they had superior numbers._

 _The sole exception to this was the human dreadnoughts which were the equivalent of a turian 2_ _nd_ _line dreadnought. (A human Everest class dreadnought was 888m long with an 850m long main gun, the same length as that of a turian 2_ _nd_ _line dreadnought, despite the latter being 892m long.)_

 _Human ships were also held back by weaker and thinner armour, weaker kinetic barriers and larger and more inefficient engines, meaning more of their volume had to be dedicated to propulsion to achieve the same speeds as turian ships._

 _All of this resulted in a navy that was made up of ships that could have been produced at any civilian shipyard in Citadel Space and were no match for any Council or Associate race's warships one on one. Indeed, of the 3,000 Systems Alliance warships barely 300 – the heavy cruisers and the three dreadnoughts – could even BE classified as warships by Citadel standards. The 1,900 cruisers would only be classified as orbital guard cutters by a generous inspector and the 800 frigates would be classified as police or modified civilian ships. Little more than target practice in a fleet battle._

 _It was the human's tactical ability, home ground advantage, and the ability to bring almost the entirety of their fleet to bear on only small sections of the Citadel Fleet that enabled the humans to end the Relay 314 Incident (First Contact War) in a position of strength. Had the humans faced an opposing fleet of equal size in battle, the outcome would have been far less favourable for them, a lesson that the humans would not forget over the coming decades._

 _On the ground the inability to manufacture kinetic barrier generators small enough to be fitted to tanks and other vehicles, let alone infantry armour, cost the Alliance army dearly. Academic analysis of the ground battles of Shanxi and Zapala predict that anything from 40% - 60% of Alliance casualties in those battles could have been avoided if their infantry had had kinetic barrier generators installed in their armour._

 _This is a figure of great concern to the turian army, given the damage that the Alliance managed to inflict on General Sparatus's Legion despite these disadvantages._

* * *

 **Timeline Changes So Far**

 _First colony on mars: 27 years earlier than cannon_

 _Discovery of Prothean ruins: 64 years earlier than cannon_

 _Founding of the Systems Alliance (council of nations version): 63 years earlier than cannon_

 _First Contact War: 45 years earlier than cannon_


	13. Chapter 13

_Standard Disclaimer: I do not own mass effect, nor any other content that you recognise. Some characters and systems are original creations. I am receiving no money for my work._

* * *

 **Shanxi – Theta System**

 **2112.11.02**

* * *

General Sparatus stared blearily into the orange glow from her holographic computer screen, not really seeing the data.

It had been three days since the engineer's fleet had arrived in Theta and ruined her attack. They had been so close – she had been so close – to breaking the aliens last line of defence and pouring through into what was left of their colony. She had even managed to breach their line before the last – desperate – counter attack of a single engineer officer had killed the troops that made it to the enemy trench.

That area had been sure to collapse if she attacked again, but even as the engineer officer's grenades were going off Admiral Drescher's fleet was pouring through the relay. That dishonourable fool Arterius had actually surrendered to her unconditionally rather than continue fighting, dying honourably attempting to carry out his orders. The shame of the defeat, the surrender of an entire turian fleet and the loss of its banner to the enemy, stung her and all of her troops deeply.

She had raged in the privacy of her command APC when she heard the surrender order from _HWS Enforcer_ , they were so close. The negotiating leverage, the ability to salvage some pride and to make Orinia's kidnappers pay, it was all in her grasp and then the dammed navy had snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.

It didn't matter that she could practically see the total collapse of the defending forces, it didn't matter that everything was about to be worth it, the navy had lost. Her troops would be under orbital kinetic bombardment within the hour and she had bitterly ordered the retreat back to their forward operating base.

Most of her troops had made it under the kinetic barriers before the engineer ships had entered orbit and begun their bombardment. They hadn't let up since, but the engineers weren't the only ones who covered their positions with powerful barriers. Granted they took it to the extremes, but the barriers covering a turian FOB were rated to withstand anything short of a main gun orbital bombardment or an in atmosphere nuclear strike.

"General." Commander Atticus stated wearily from the door. "The enemy forces have begun their main landing."

Wave after wave of transports had headed to the battered remnants of the two small spaceports near the centre of the colony as soon as the engineers had entered orbit. Fresh soldiers, supplies and weaponry had poured into their defence lines. But it had been only a small fraction of what the transport ships in orbit could hold, in that her officers had all been in agreement. Their conclusion was that the space in the centre of the city was too crowded and to covered in debris for the aliens to set up a proper forward base there.

Having landed enough reinforcements to hold any attack that she was capable of mustering while they controlled the skies, they would land their main force elsewhere and set up a forward operating base before moving directly against her own positions. It would seem that she was still capable of reading the engineers military actions correctly, even if they were a complete mystery otherwise.

"Location?" Her voice was tired and unrecognisable even to her.

"Right where you expected General."

"Prepare to move out, we will fulfil our orders."

Atticus shifted uncomfortably. He and the other officers had tried repeatedly to get General Sparatus to agree to surrender, but the General was adamant that they fight on. He decided to try one last time. "What orders General?"

"The first one they teach you in basic training. The order to bring victory to the Hierarchy."

The glare the General sent his way would have made a lesser man crumble, but despite his hatred for the engineers and respect for his General, Atticus pressed on. "There can be no victory here General. Even if we win, defeat their vanguard and destroy the landers bringing down the pieces of their FOB, they will just regroup and land again. Somewhere much further away and beyond our reach next time, despite the delay that will cause in their attack."

General Sparatus looked as if she wanted to gut him on the spot, a look she had reserved for the engineers until now. "It will cause a large number of casualties, material damage, and hurt their pride. When we defeat their vanguard and wipe out their landing ground it will give us leverage, leverage I will use to negotiate a conditional surrender rather than the unconditional surrender that this Field Marshal Moran is demanding."

The General looked over at the legion's banner in the centre of the camp, visible through her office window. "I won't be responsible for the capture of the second turian banner since the Krogan rebellions. I won't."

Atticus's respect for General Sparatus took a body blow as he realised her greatest fear. It wasn't the destruction of her legion, or their collective shame. It was her personal shame, the destruction of all of her dreams of advancement and her vilification in the history books.

Atticus glared angrily at the floor. He had always thought that Admiral Arterius was weak, unwilling to do what had to be done and full of regret at the actions they had taken against these primitives. It was galling to realise that when the time came, when the two banner officers true selves were revealed, Macen Arterius was the better turian than Vetra Sparatus.

He had taken responsibility for his actions, taken the shame upon himself to save the turians under his command from a meaningless death under the guns of an undefeatable enemy fleet. He had sacrificed himself for the good of the whole, as a good turian should.

General Sparatus was going to sacrifice hundreds of turians under her command, who she was supposed to protect as well as lead to victory, simply to try and alleviate some of the shame that she – that they had all – brought upon themselves by their actions. Ever since Captain Sidonis had first encountered these 'humans.'

Atticus's anger at the engineers, at the General, at everything threatened to spill over. He wanted nothing more than to take his service pistol and escort Sparatus to the brig for disobeying orders, but he could not. The law was very clear, General Sparatus was his commanding officer and her orders were to be obeyed. If she had broken under the weight of the enemy assault, suffered a nervous breakdown, then he could have legitimately relieved her of command.

If she didn't have the fig leaf of the orders to maintain order and council control on the ground in the operational area of Third Patrol Fleet – as determined by its Admiral – he could have arrested her for disobeying orders. But neither were true, and there was no latitude in the law for bad orders or officers who were placing themselves above the good of the whole unit. Good turians were not permitted to judge their superiors, they followed orders. Good or bad.

"What are your orders General?" He growled out, hating every word. He would hold the General just as responsible for every turian that they would kill as he would the engineers, spirits take both of them. His only solace was at least the troops hadn't seen through General Sparatus as he had. At least they would die believing in their General, and their mission.

"Order the last of the troops to their vehicles and brief them to conduct anti bombardment manoeuvring at all times starting when we leave the base. We move out in 10." General Sparatus replied still staring at the banner of the legion, fluttering in the breeze. She would never hand it over to the humans. Never.

* * *

 **Shanxi – Theta System**

 **2112.11.02**

* * *

Colonel Muller frantically manoeuvred his tank regiment as he tried to avoid incoming fire from these 'turian' hovertanks. With the marines all deployed to reinforce the defences around Qinghai, Field Marshal Moran had decided to deploy an army corps to secure the landing zone before construction started on the forward operating base.

Consisting of three combined divisions the General had reorganised them into 2 infantry divisions and 1 armoured division upon landing, sending out his armoured division as a screening force as the infantry divisions prepared defences around the perimeter of the FOB landing site. It was supposed to be an ample guard force, but that calculation hadn't counted on the turians conducting a do or die attack with every single remaining vehicle they possessed as soon as the first transport landed.

"Keep moving people!" Muller growled into his comms as another of his tanks blew up, the shockwave rocking his own gently. Blue flames engulphed the armoured vehicle as it's hydrogen engine and fuel tanks caught fire, the fire proof bulkheads shattered by the turian round's impact. Only one of its crew made it out of the turret before the flames licked from the opening showing the entire crew compartment was on fire, but Colonel Muller didn't have time to mourn and he ignored the screams, he was too busy trying to save those of his soldiers that were still alive.

Just as the reports from the Shanxi garrison forces said, these turian hovertanks needed 4 hits to take them down. Three to take down their barriers and a fourth to finish them off. Lacking any kinetic barriers, as the Alliance had yet to miniaturise them enough, his own tanks couldn't even take a single hit. The surrounding fields, full of burning Alliance tanks, showed the brutal truth of that discrepancy.

All along the front line, the armoured division was trying to buy time for the infantry divisions to dig in. Every moment they held the turians back was more time for the infantry to throw up some cover for themselves to use if the turian attack broke through, which it was in serious danger of doing. The command net was filled with calls for air and orbital support as the Brigadiers tried to manoeuvre their brigades as best as possible against the major advantages the attacking turian forces had in speed, manoeuvrability, armour and numbers.

His own regiment was mostly German, and until now Colonel Muller didn't think that anyone could beat his people at tank warfare. The turians had blown that fantasy to pieces within seconds of the battle being joined. Now not only had his initial thrusts been shattered, he couldn't even extract his regiment from the fighting to regroup and counter attack. The turians had their jaws latched around his regiment's throat like a wolf with its prey, they couldn't escape.

No sooner had the thought crossed his mind when the fire from the turian forces he was engaging suddenly diminished.

"Pull back! Disengage and regroup for a counter attack immediately." Muller quickly gave the orders and watched with pride as his regiment executed them, withdrawing out of range of the turian forces that were suddenly quite happy to let them go. Having seen to the fighting withdrawal and regrouping of his own regiment Colonel Muller spared a glance for his opponents, trying to see what had granted him the desperately needed reprieve.

"COLONEL ALBRICCI WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" Colonel Muller hollered down the command comms net in total shock at his counterpart.

Colonel Marianna Albricci commanded the division's regiment of scout tanks. Small and fast they were even more vulnerable to the turian hovertanks than his own battle tanks were, destroyed by even glancing hits from the enemy's guns. Even worse it took 6 hits from their guns to bring down the enemy's barriers and the enemy frontal armour was too thick for the scout tanks weapons to penetrate. To destroy the enemy hovertanks, even with their barriers down, they had to hit their sides or rear.

"I'm giving you the opening you need Muller!" Colonel Albricci responded determinedly, the sound of an explosion in the background signalling the destruction of one of her tanks even as she answered Colonel Muller. The news of her brother's death leading his brigade in the defence of Shanxi had left her resolute to beat these aliens, no matter what the cost. It seems the sight of so many charred human bodies, and burned out tanks that were tombs for even more, had given the same determination to the rest of her regiment as well.

Colonel Muller cursed as the scout tanks charged into the turian line, weaving and drifting around enemy hovertanks they threw up huge sprays of dust from their tracks churning up the soft, dry soil as they used their high speed and tighter turning circles to stay out of the turians lines of fire. More than one managed to get the turians to fire on their own forces by dodging out of the way at the same time the enemy fired, hiding the turian hovertank from friendly gunners with the bulk of their own tank, dust sprays and smoke screens until it was too late.

But they couldn't keep it up. With their own guns practically useless the casualties began to mount, and with every one of Albricci's scouts destroyed, there was one less to prevent the turians concentrating their fire and bracketing the franticly evading scouts, no matter what tricks they tried to pull to hide themselves or how skilled their drivers were.

"Hurry Muller! There will be nothing left of my regiment soon!" There was still nothing but cold determination in Colonel Albricci's voice despite the horrific casualties. Her scouts continued to occupy the turians attention like a swarm of wasps as Colonel Muller quickly issued new targeting orders to his rapidly reforming regiment. Colonel Mullers forced reformed as fast as they possibly could, watching the scout regiment swarming the turians despite having ineffective weapons and the fact they were being knocked out by the dozen. Selling their lives for the time that they needed to reform and counter attack.

All of them silently swore that if anyone made jokes about the Italians' courage or fighting ability after this, it was going to be the last thing they did.

Finally – finally – his unit was ready. Several tanks had been left behind in the rush, engines or tracks damaged their commanders had called out for the regiment to leave them behind rather than slow their overall speed. They would use the onboard medkits to try and save some of the injured left behind in the wake of the units – hopefully – successful attack.

"All units advance!" Colonel Mullers tanks charged forward as one, the roar of their engines and the plume of dust they kicked up a mechanical battle cry. Once more they were a united formation working in concert, rather than scattered individuals fighting for their own lives.

"Stay on target." He watched the range close and the hit probability rise, he desperately wanted to open fire, to relieve Colonel Albricci and get revenge on the force that had killed so many Alliance soldiers, but if their sacrifice was to mean anything this attack had to succeed. And that meant he had to wait for the best shot he could get.

"Stay on target." The turians still hadn't seen them. The swarm of scout tanks – pathetic toys to their eyes – were unable to even damage them significantly, but they were constantly avoiding their efforts to destroy them. Worse they were even getting them to kill their own friends and comrades by accident as they lured them into firing, then darted out of the way to reveal a tank crewed by people they knew, people that they had had breakfast with only that morning.

More than one turian gunner had screamed impotently as they were forced to watch their own round blow their friends to the spirits. The turians were beyond frustrated, beyond angry.

They were furious.

More importantly to Colonel Muller, that fury had caused them to develop tunnel vision. Focused exclusively on Colonel Albricci's swarming scout tanks, they had failed to notice Colonel Muller's reformed battle tanks charging back into the battle, and now they were almost at point blank range.

"Fire!" The first turian hovertank had finally noticed them and turned its turret to face his charging battle tanks, but it was too late. His entire unit fired in unison and dozens of turian hovertanks exploded, each had been the target of 5 of his own.

"Stay in your fire groups. Retarget, fire!" Colonel Muller grinned as another wave of turian units exploded, with his tanks working in unified fireteams the turians tech advantage was wiped out. Stunned and confused, the turians were having difficulty processing the sudden change from pursuing an inferior force fighting for its life to being left vulnerable to the Alliance counter attack.

Unit after unit in the turian line stopped advancing, hesitating before they finally began to reverse, trying to gain some space and adjust their tactics and firing priorities to this new reality. Colonel Muller had no intention of giving them that space.

"Stay on them! keep up the pressure!"

Alliance forces continued to press forwards even as they took casualties from the turian counter fire. Colonel Albricci's scout regiment began to pull back into the safety of his main battle line, firing at any vulnerable targets they saw as they withdrew. The battle tanks watched in horror as the change to only focusing on one enemy allowed the turians to recover.

"Albricci, tell me you intended this to happen." Colonel Muller growled out as his worst fears were confirmed, pockets of turian units were re-establishing formations and halting their backwards movement. Turning into a wall which the battle tanks charge would shatter on, just as it had the first time. Muller began to feel despair as the chance to exact vengeance and beat these aliens slipped through his fingers.

"Just a little longer." Colonel Albricci replied distractedly as more and more turian pocket formations linked up to form a larger, more cohesive whole. Then, just as the turians looked as if they might recover into some form of functioning unit wide formation, she sent her scouts charging into the gaps in the turian line, smashing through before they had a chance to fully close them and form up.

The shock of overcoming the human forces and reforming, only to have that formation shattered again before they could take the fight to the enemy broke the morale of the turian hovertank crews. Their tactical withdrawal became a retreat as they increased speed away from the Alliance forces and their return fire became more scattered and inaccurate.

Colonel Muller's spirits soared as he looked at the chaos his Italian counterpart had wrought. Finaly the turian forces were beaten and retreating, they had done it. He looked at the tactical readouts for his regiment and the casualty count caused him physical pain. Over 35% of his force was destroyed or disabled, it was a high price to pay but he reminded himself that it was worth it.

The turian attack had been smashed and they had defended their sector, protecting the vulnerable beachhead from being overrun before the army could land. He was about to order his regiment to pull back, to hold the line and protect the landing ground when the thoughts of the two Generals he had read up on most recently, in preparation for fighting this campaign, flashed through his mind.

Whatever they had been personally, General Robert E. Lee and General 'Stonewall' Jackson had been military officers of stunning capability. Holding off a force superior in numbers, weapons, training and logistical support for years. It was why he had studied them intently in preparation for this campaign against the alien invaders.

The Confederate Generals had achieved this amazing feat by attacking almost constantly, never allowing themselves to be forced onto the defensive or to be satisfied with just causing the Union army to retreat. General Jackson's quote echoed through his head even as the casualty count continued to rise. **'When you strike** (the enemy) **and overcome him, never let up in the pursuit so long as your men have strength to follow; for an army routed, if hotly pursued, becomes panic-stricken, and can then be destroyed by half their number.'**

A grim resolve settled in his stomach as Colonel Muller gripped his controls tighter and activated the comms. "Stay on them! don't let them get away!"

"Colonel if we keep chasing them we'll open holes in our line! Our neighbouring regiments are still heavily engaged." The concern from his XO was genuine and reasonable. Their neighbouring regiments weren't faring anywhere near as well as they were and if they pushed forward and the turians on their flanks noticed and managed to cut them off. They would be trapped, encircled and utterly destroyed, the hunters turned into the prey through their own overconfidence.

Colonel Muller considered for a moment, but his resolve steeled at the sight of how much their neighbouring regiments were struggling to halt the turian advance. This gamble could change the course of the battle for them, granting them the much-needed reprieve that Colonel Albricci had bought so dearly for them. "If we keep these turians on the run the retreat will become a rout! The panic will spread throughout their entire army when they realise one of their sections has been pushed back miles. Stay on them, trust in our comrades to notice how out of position we are and to guard our flanks."

A chorus of enthusiastic confirmations came over the comms as the regiment increased speed, engines roaring and tracks churning up the dirt of Shanxi they raced after the turians, closing the distance between themselves and the retreating section of the turian army. Never letting up, never allowing them to stop and reform. Colonel Muller was about to get onto the comms to continue to offer encouragement as the gap between their flanks and the nearest Alliance forces opened wider and wider, but he paused when he heard music coming from outside the tank.

"Does that bloody woman think she's in Apocalypse Now?" Muller muttered to himself, remembering the iconic scene of the helicopters attacking to Flight of the Valkyries from jury rigged PA systems. Colonel Albricci's scout force had built in PA systems as they were the tanks that would be assigned to help the police were martial law ever be declared. They were useless in a battle but for sum unfathomable reason the Italian Colonel had decided to use them to play Sabaton – Ghost Division

"Colonel Albricci…." Colonel Muller began, voice tight with frustration.

" _THEY ARE THE PANZER ELITE! BORN TO COMPETE! NEVER RETREAT! – GHOST DIVISION – LIVING OR DEAD! ALWAYS AHEAD! FED BY YOUR DREAD! – GHOST DIVISION."_

Colonel Albricci responded grimly, making him pause and actually listen to her explanation. "I'm hoping that the turians have installed the translation software on all of their units. They're already shocked and confused, the idea that their being chased by an elite unit should really cause them to…"

Before she could even finish speaking the last few bits of coordination between the retreating turian units collapsed. Some increased speed, trying to get away and reform to engage in battle again, some just broke and turned away, others stopped retreating and tried to stand and fight. Whatever they did they were overwhelmed by the Alliance forces chasing them as Colonel's Muller and Albricci both let out whoops of joy and continued to pursue them at full speed.

* * *

 _Codex Entry: Humans – The Treaty of Mars_

 _(Citadel Codex, First Human SPECTRE Collector's Edition, 2183)_

* * *

 _The Treaty of Mars was incorporated into the founding charter of the Systems Alliance following the events of the 6-minute war in 2085 CE. Before the Systems Alliance was founded the human home system of Sol was colonised by the competing human nation states._

 _These nation states also had space going navies to defend their colonies from attack by other Earth nations. Despite the general feeling of unease that this situation was a powder keg waiting to blow, the governments of Earth saw no way around it as they refused to leave their colonies undefended. A similar scenario had played out with nuclear warheads in the human standoff known as the Cold War, deterrence was based on MAD: Mutually Assured Destruction._

 _The Systems Alliance was in the process of being created and there was a growing feeling that the space going militaries would need to be coordinated to a degree that had never been seen before. In the face of an alien attack, the human navies would have to work together seamlessly despite their differing operational methods, rank structures and training standards._

 _The ships themselves would all have to be able to be supplied using the same logistics system as well, having a dozen different ship sensor systems for example would completely overload supply lines in the event of war. This meant that all ships would have to be designed with the same components for the humans to fight effectively as a united species, meaning that each unique technology developed by a nation for its warships would have to be shared with every other nation. If they were not, the logistics of a dozen different navies tech bases would cripple any unified human war effort._

 _Talks on this topic would most likely have eventually broken down if it were not for the events of the 5_ _th_ _of March 2085._

 _Two nations with relatively new colonies on Mars, India and Pakistan, also shared a disputed border province on Earth. This had taken the two nations to the brink of war several times in the past and now it did so again. However, while the nations themselves did not actually go to war, their naval forces in Mars orbit antagonised each other in a slow escalation of hostilities._

 _This was not unprecedented, it was the same on Earth where the two nation's ground and air forces doing their own antagonising and escalation. In Mars orbit however, unlike on Earth, one of the weapons officers on the Indian flagship, the INS Vikramaditya, panicked and opened fire as he believed a Pakistani attack to be imminent._

 _Over the next six minutes the battle raged as the warships of India and Pakistan fired at each other. Three were destroyed, but it was one shot that changed everything. The Pakistani warship PNS Alamgir fired at the Vikramaditya. She missed._

 _The shot impacted the surface of Mars with an explosive force of 0.4 kilotons. It wasn't a large blast by the standard of the nuclear-powered explosions that humans could produce at this time. But it was more than enough to wipe out the Brazilian colony of Amazonia._

 _The battle ceased as both sides watched the accidental deaths of 50,000 Brazilian civilians with horror._

 _The worldwide reaction was both condemnation and fear - fear that the next time this happened it would be in a war between larger nations, with bigger warships, and in Earth orbit._

 _The Treaty of Mars was the result of that fear. It stated that all nations were only allowed to maintain minimally armed and limited size orbital guard cutters in space. These were also only to be used to provide security for their colonies and shipping lanes, maintaining law and order._

 _The only body allowed to field true military warships was the new Systems Alliance Navy. The crews of those ships would also be mixed so that no one nationality would be in command of the international fleet. Critics stated that this would effectively put the entire human space going navy under American and Chinese control, as those two nations would maintain a stranglehold on the Alliance Executive Council._

 _There were several riots, but the fear people had of dying by accident from a stray shot from an orbital battle, coupled with the intense diplomatic arm twisting from the USA and the PRC, ensured that all nations with a presence in space eventually signed the treaty, on the condition that neither superpower could gain majority control._

 _Though many nations would secretly keep a squadron or two of warships, constructed at black shipyards and hidden from prying eyes, when the Systems Alliance was founded in 2086 CE it became the sole naval power of humanity and all other military space forces were disbanded. Officially._

* * *

 **Timeline Changes So Far**

 _First colony on mars: 27 years earlier than canon_

 _Discovery of Prothean ruins: 64 years earlier than canon_

 _Founding of the Systems Alliance (council of nations version): 63 years earlier than canon_

 _First Contact War: 45 years earlier than canon_


	14. Chapter 14

_Standard Disclaimer: I do not own mass effect, nor any other content that you recognise. Some characters and systems are original creations. I am receiving no money for my work._

* * *

 **Vancouver – Earth**

 **2112.11.05**

* * *

"Remember, remember the 5th of November, the gunpowder treason and plot. I see no reason why the gunpowder treason should ever be forgot." The words echoed softly around the cavernous, almost empty room. As if to provide a contrast to the dark thoughts of their speaker, bright sunlight streamed through the giant windows.

"You're in a poetic mood today Thomas." Anaya Khatri muttered as they waited in the council antechamber in the Systems Alliance Headquarters building on the waterfront of Vancouver.

Thomas Carmichael, the First Space Lord, just looked wearily at his army counterpart. When what was already being referred to as the 'panzer elite' regiments under Colonel's Albricci and Muller shattered a section of the turian legion on Shanxi, the remainder of the Alliance army had quickly exploited the gap. The turians had fought well, but with such a large hole ripped in their formation their left flank was successfully detached from the main force, encircled, and finally destroyed.

The Alliance army had then turned on the now exposed turian centre and the right flank and had pounded them relentlessly, never letting them retreat. The final blow had been the death of General Sparatus, who had apparently been the turian commanding officer. None of the Alliance soldiers had known what vehicle she was in, or even that they had killed her until a 'Commander Atticus' had issued a general broadcast and announced that he had taken command following the General's death.

Recognising the hopelessness of his position, that even if by some miracle he managed to retreat and regroup his legion was finished, he had acquiesced to Field Marshal Moran's demands and surrendered unconditionally to the Systems Alliance.

As soon as the news had made it to them, Fleet Admiral Carmichael and Field Marshal Khatri had made public the information that Admiral Drescher had engaged and defeated the alien invasion – both in space and on the ground – and was now pushing through the Theta relay into enemy territory.

The world had promptly exploded. Riots and demonstrations, already taking place across the globe, increased by an order of magnitude. Some rioters condemned the military's actions, more condemned the Alliance Executive Council for refusing to authorise them.

Even here, in the centre of the Alliance Headquarters building, they could hear the protests consuming Vancouver outside. When even the mild-mannered Canadians – who were even less likely to protest than the British population they had originally descended from – took to the streets in such numbers across their nation? It was safe to say that the Alliance Council would have probably preferred to take their chances with a huge amount of explosives in the building's cellar instead of this.

"Summoning the First Sky Marshal and the First Space Lord!" The call echoed down the empty corridor, filled only with the Executive Council's guards that spent the time staring dead ahead, stone faced. Preventing the two military leaders from leaving.

"Here we go." Thomas Carmichael muttered as he glanced over in solidarity at his friend. Together they entered the council chamber to alternating cheers and screams of condemnation from the public gallery.

Facing them as they entered were the leaders of the member nations. As soon as the detailed information about the sieges of Shanxi and Zapala had hit the internet a meeting of the Alliance Executive Council had been called.

When the information that the Alliance military had been ready to go and lift the sieges, but had been held back by the two world superpowers playing politics hit it had promptly been upgraded to an emergency meeting. When the information that the Alliance military had disobeyed orders and sailed out anyway, and had successfully lifted the sieges within 24hrs of their arrival. Just before the heroic garrison on Shanxi had been overwhelmed? Then the Alliance member nation's leaders had decided to take the place of their ambassadors on the Executive Council, both to interrogate their two premier military officers in person and to try and spin themselves out of the political shit storm that was suddenly bearing down on them.

They had also decided to live stream this part of the meeting, betting on their political ability to allow them to outmanoeuvre two military officers and unite Earth against the military coup that the two of them had, in truth, actually carried out. Even if they would deny that fact to anyone not involved to their dying days.

The American President, Andrew Goldwater sat stony faced. He was facing re-election in two weeks' time and how well he managed to spin this would make or break his attempt to return to the Whitehouse for a second term. Thankfully the fact that he was in an election gave him a large advantage in that, the poling companies had been working overtime for months, giving him every scrap of data that they could find on the thoughts and opinions of the American people on every subject imaginable. Including the Systems Alliance and the two officers standing in front of him.

The exposure of his and the State Department's plan to deliberately not counter the Chinese stalling actions on the Executive Council, let Shanxi and Zapala fall and cause China's humiliation on the world stage, before swooping in to play the hero and liberate the two colonies had decimated his polling numbers. The American people were angry, and he needed to give them another target if he was to have any hope of re-election.

Seated next to President Goldwater, in the second of the two centre and front seats of the semi-circular raised banks of council members seating was Li Xiuqing, President of the Peoples Republic of China. It was China that their military coup had humiliated on the international stage. It was China that was already dealing with the worst unrest it had seen in decades, both on and off world, due to how they were willing to sacrifice an entire Chinese colony rather than see it relieved by non-Peoples Liberation Army troops. The tension could have been cut with a knife as he glared forcefully at Admiral Carmichael and Field Marshal Khatri.

"What gave you the right Fleet Admiral? Field Marshal?" President Li began, playing to the cameras that were livestreaming the session. He wished to establish the Executive Council's authority from the outset in the minds of the world's population, and in this he had the advantage of the truth being on his side. Even if the Space Lord and the Sky Marshal managed to convince people that they hadn't staged a military coup, there was no doubt that their actions were mutiny. At best.

At worst they were treason, an angle that President Li intended to push hard lest any of the PLA generals get dangerous ideas. "What gave either of you the right to send soldiers and sailors of the Systems Alliance to fight and die without our authorisation?"

Admiral Carmichael stood steadfast as he responded. "The military situation demanded it. We were under attack from a hostile ALIEN power and our counter attack had already been delayed beyond all reason. The garrisons of our colonies held on, fought to their last breaths, confident that the Alliance was on its way to save them. Only it wasn't, because of you. We made the decision to save both the garrison and the civilians of the Theta system from being overrun, whether this Council could get its head out of its arse or not!"

The President Goldwater flushed darkly as anger flittered across his face. "Childish insults will NOT help you here Admiral! The military of the Alliance answers to its political – CIVILIAN – leadership. You do NOT get to decide what is best for our people, that is what WE, the ELECTED representatives do." The President stressed each word with care, highlighting deliberately the subordination of the military to an elected civilian body. A measure that the entire western world, but especially America, demanded.

"And a pretty piss poor job you two have been doing of it! Letting them and your voters die for your own internal political reasons!" Field Marshal Khatri stated openly without any respect whatsoever, her tone practically dripping with contempt for the leaders of the two superpowers. Leaders who's constant fighting over the title of the most powerful nation on Earth had led them all to this point.

Both Presidents were certainly almost apocalyptic with rage, but neither let it show. They were seasoned politicians and would not allow two jumped up grunts to provoke them into making mistakes so easily. The rest of the Executive Council was silent, watching the argument but making no comment, something President Goldwater noted with concern.

The state department had flagged the lack of communication from some of their closest allies as to which way they would jump in this meeting. He had dismissed it as paranoia, or their leaders not wanting to tie themselves to his administration in case he failed to spin this correctly and went down in flames. Now, when is carefully chosen phrases were having no visible effect on those who should agree with them most, he began to worry that he had dismissed the state departments concerns to easily.

"Again, that is not for you to decide. The people need to know that they are led by leaders that are accountable to them, CIVILIAN leaders. Not military dictators that will just use tanks to keep their boots on the throats of the people, whenever they decide that something is a 'military necessity.'" President Li issued the statement without letting any of the hypocrisy he should be feeling show on his face. He was playing to the democratic section of the audience, confident he already had the nationalistic authoritarian section in the bag. He was right, and it was working.

Reminding everyone of the dangers of military dictatorship, something that many countries watching had experienced, some even within living memory, was a smart play. The public in the gallery and around the world began to swing behind the two Presidents, turning against the military coup and direct – dictatorial – rule that the two officers represented, fairly or not.

"They didn't make that decision. I did." Prime Minister Rajendra Tharoor of India spoke up.

Stunned silence fell across the Executive Council. Anaya Khatri grinned internally as all of the negotiations her family had frantically conducted behind the scenes paid off in front of her. The Khatri family had several contacts in the Lok Sabah, and she had pushed them hard to get the prime minister on board. Once they had, feelers had been discreetly sent out to other nations.

With the Republic of India, the third largest economy and third most powerful nation in the world on their side, claiming responsibility for the orders that sent the Alliance navy and army into battle without the Executive Council's authorisation, the other governments had been more willing to listen when their leaders were approached by their nation's highest ranked Alliance officers.

The public need never know that this cover story was agreed upon after the fact. As far as the rest of the world was concerned, the first time Alliance forces went into battle they would have done so under civilian leadership, even if it wasn't the civilian leadership they were supposed to be loyal to. Many people would guess the truth, but the fact that there had actually been a military coup would never – officially – see the light of day.

Like is ancestor, Dr Sashi Tharoor, the Indian Prime Minister was a fantastic public speaker and he knew how to work public opinion. He did both now as he descended from his seat in the council chamber to stand with the two military officers on the floor, facing down the two most powerful people in the world from the metaphorical position of the average citizen. An image that carried a lot of power for those nations that had seen political dictatorships in living memory, not just military ones.

"This Executive Council was useless, paralysed by internal divisions. Chasing your own domestic political goals." He glared at President Li. "Or seeking to use the situation to advance your position in the game of nations." He glared at President Goldwater. "When the Space Lords and the Sky Marshals came to me, begging me to help. To allow them to go and save our people who were fighting and dying for the Alliance, for ALL the people of the Earth. While you two sat back and used THEIR blood to play YOUR games? I couldn't refuse their request."

"I spoke with India's friends and allies and we decided that we would not stand idly by and watch the power plays of politicians paid for with the blood of their peoples loved ones." In perfectly agreed upon choreography and timing the French, German, British, Polish, Italian and Spanish leaders rose from their seats and joined him on the floor.

With a significant chunk of the Executive Council now with him on the floor of the council chamber, Rajendra Tharoor gestured dramatically to the Field Marshal and the Fleet Admiral. "These officers didn't commit a military coup to further their own power and place us all under the jackboot of an interstellar military junta. They sent the Alliance Fleet into battle on behalf of the Republic of India and the European Union to save their fellow humans from an ALIEN attack."

The council chamber and the public watching erupted in chaos.

"THIS COUNCIL." Prime Minister Tharoor continued to yell over the chaos, his deep voice carrying clearly despite the outrage. "PROVED TO BE WORSE THAN USELESS DURING THIS INVASION! IT PROVED TO BE AN ACTIVE HINDERANCE TO OUR COLLECTIVE DEFENCE. YOU! ALL OF YOU! CAUSED UNCOUNTED HUMAN DEATHS! AS SURELY AS IF YOU HAD KILLED THEM YOURSELVES!"

The chamber fell to silence as that accusation hit home. Granted it was hyperbole, for starters the number of human deaths were in the process of being counted, but no one wanted to make that argument. And with the machinations of the Peoples Republic of China and the US State Department public knowledge due to the leaks, there was no possibility of those two nations denying the accusations. They were true after all.

"The Systems Alliance has succeeded, it has proved its worth." Prime Minister Tharoor continued, holding his worldwide audience captive whether they agreed with him or not. "Our fellow humans on both Shanxi and Zapala are alive and free because of them, because the men and women of our military put country aside and fought as one – united – species against an alien aggressor. When the aliens came for us, with one voice the people of the Systems Alliance stood up and roared NO! NOT ON OUR WATCH! This Executive Council FAILED, completely and utterly, because you could not do the same."

"You are not fit to lead the Systems Alliance! You cling to the past and the petty advantage of your own nations. You refuse to work together as the people of the Alliance demand, even in the face of alien attack. You do not represent the will of the Alliance people! That was represented by the fleet and army that relieved Shanxi, that went to the aid of their human brothers and sisters no matter their race, religion OR nationality."

Rajendra Tharoor had planned his speech well, each section played to a different part of the world audience. Drawing them in, making them invest in his words and then sweeping them along for the ride as his speech turned and slammed the status quo of the Alliance body politic. Represented by the Executive Council as a whole, but in particular by the leaders of the two superpowers.

"And who is fit to lead? You, Prime Minister?" President Li left the title dripping with contempt. He could see that he had lost the battle for hearts and minds worldwide and was cutting his losses. His sole focus now was to rally the Chinese people behind him and against the 'other'. The fact that the military officers had relied on India and Europe for their political cover was of great use to him in this regard.

The Chinese people were used to seeing their regional rival with distrust, and the communist party made sure that the humiliation of Imperial China at the hands of European Imperialist powers was still front and centre in the school history books. "India is still only the third most powerful nation on Earth, don't get ideas above your station. As for the rest of you, I see only pathetic remnants of Empires chasing their lost glory at the expense of the Chinese people. The century of humiliation is long past. China is unified and strong, and your plans will shatter on the strength of her people. You cannot survive without us, and we will never agree to whatever…..travesty you propose."

President Goldwater sat in stony faced silence during President Li's rebuttal. Franticly working through different courses of action he could take, trying to see a way through the disaster that was unfolding before him. Several courses of action would preserve American power, but would be unacceptable to the American people in the short term and may cost him the election if he tried to convince them.

The others would preserve American power, be acceptable to the American people, and would probably win him re-election into the bargain. But they were all incredible all-in gambles, there would be no turning back. Behind a veneer of calm the Andrew Goldwater continued to run cost/benefit ratios in his head, caught by surprise and without the option to consult the state department, he would have to make a choice here and now. If he had any attention to spare he would be cursing himself for suggesting that the meeting be livestreamed, forcing him into this corner of responding at once rather than stalling for time then denying and fudging any media reports.

He was supposed to be facing military officers, out of their depth and with no legitimacy, discredited by their actions even if they were telling the truth. He was definitely not supposed to be facing one of the most skilled political operators on the planet, who had the truth on his side in the most important matters and the support to bury the bits of the truth that would hurt him. But that was the position he had ended up in and now he had to role with it.

"It is not I who will rule President Li." Prime Minister Tharoor gave a winning smile and gestured to the cameras. "Unlike you, we trust our people. The citizens of the Systems Alliance will rule themselves, as they deserve to do. The Republic of India moves that the Executive Council of the Systems Alliance be immediately abolished, and that it be replaced with an Alliance wide election to form a Constitutional Assembly. An assembly that will be charged with creating a constitution and a directly elected parliamentary government for the Systems Alliance.

"The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland seconds the motion, both in our own right and on behalf of the European Union." Prime Minister Vince Cable beat Chancellor Lindner of Germany to the announcement by a fraction of a second, much to the latter's chagrin.

President Li snorted in disgust and swept dramatically out of the chamber. The rest of the Executive Council, silent throughout as they tired to ride out the storm between the two competing factions, was now caught between two giants. All of them wished for nothing more than to be able to stall, to consult their foreign ministers and see which way the wind was blowing long term, to see which side offered them the best chance of increased prosperity or which side would grant them the most concessions.

But they couldn't, they had agreed to President Goldwater's proposal to livestream the session and now they were trapped by it. Forced to pick a side here and now. Based on the visible reaction in favour of Tharoor's speech and fact that China walked out rather than vote against the proposal, showing that President Li thought it would pass, one by one they voted for the proposal. Each vote for the proposal reinforced the next, making it more difficult for leaders that had grave reservations to break ranks. Finally, only President Goldwater was left.

The President of the United States didn't say anything. He simply looked resolute and stood, moving towards the exit from the chamber rather than casting his vote futilely and granting legitimacy to the proposal.

"Mr President." Vince Cable, the Prime Minister of Great Britain stepped forward. "Don't do it. Stay and help shape the new government of humanity. Remember the Brexit debacle, walking away from a union rather than fighting to reform it? It never works. Britain tried to hold on to a power that had long since faded away. We left the most successful economic union and peace project Europe has ever seen, chasing our past rather than embracing our future and leading the reform efforts. We failed to accept that the world had changed, that the time of the nation state standing alone against all others was long gone."

"The globalised world swept away all those that tried to stand alone against it, people working together across national boundaries was the future, as the success of the EU and this very Systems Alliance demonstrates. Don't make the same mistake, don't try to stand alone against the galaxy. Face it with us, together."

President Goldwater was unmoved, so Prime Minister Cable made one last effort.

"Consider the fate of Britain outside the EU. Isolated, irrelevant, families torn apart as the young watched the future they wanted taken way from them. Left at the mercy of the global corporations and the multinational trade blocks, the economy tanking and all of it for nothing as we re-joined the EU only 20 years later."

"The Union moved on without us, growing economically and politically, taking on the global corporations and winning, advancing the cause of democracy and stopping the growing corporate consolidated vultures in their tracks. All while we watched, powerless before those same corporations. Only now, 70 years after our re-entry, have we reversed the damage and reclaimed the respect and relevance that we threw away in 2016 chasing a rose-tinted dream. Don't. Do. This. It will be the end of America as a world power."

President Andrew Goldwater simply held his head high, his choice unaffected. He knew what the American people would except and what they wouldn't, and they would never accept being just another nation state. The American people believed themselves to be citizens of the greatest nation on Earth, and as President of the United States it was his job to make that belief reality.

"We are the United States of America, one nation, under God, the most powerful nation and the greatest nation on Earth. We will not submit to anyone. You can make this Alliance a superstate it if you want, sell your own sovereignty for a few technological trinkets. But America will NEVER join it, we bow to no one!"

President Goldwater looked several of America's strongest non-European allies' leaders in the eyes as he spoke, trying to impress on them the lengths America would go to to halt this travesty. As he stormed out, following his Chinese counterpart, he hoped he had done enough. Planted enough uncertainty to pry several of them away from India/EU faction and back onto America's side.

The remaining members of the Alliance Executive Council shifted uncertainly, looking around, trying to figure out what to do next. America and China were the two most powerful nations in the world, from the beginning of the Systems Alliance they had always aligned themselves with one or the other. Now both of them were gone.

The entire existing world order had been blown to smithereens in only a few minutes, and no one knew who would successfully wrest the crown of the leading nation of humanity from the thorn bush it had landed in. Or who would bleed themselves to death in the attempt.

Prime Minister Rajendra Tharoor walked up behind Prime Minister Cable and gripped his shoulder in solidarity. "You did your best Vince."

Prime Minister Cable was genuinely sorry to see America walk out rather than join the new Systems Alliance, the loss of such a close ally was a blow to British power and influence as well as causing practical and legitimacy problems for the new Systems Alliance. Prime Minister Tharoor was likewise genuinely sorry to see them go, but he was also secretly pleased. China was never going to agree to be part of the new government, but if America had stayed then it would have been far more difficult to advance the cause of the Indian people.

The challenges facing the Alliance had multiplied now that the Americans had walked out, which was going to cause all of them significant headaches, but the departure of the Americans had also put the biggest prize of them all in play. The crown of the leader of humanity was finally, truly, within India's reach and both of the other contenders had shot themselves in the foot, sacrificing national interest on the altar of domestic political red lines. With them divided, distracted, he intended to finally make India the most powerful nation in the world, and if the price of that was that power and title being wielded within a new democratic federal superstate ruling all of humanity?

That was a price he was willing to pay.

Rajendra Tharoor turned to the milling and confused leaders of the remaining Systems Alliance member nations and projected his voice, loud and clear over all of them. "Ladies and Gentlemen, the decisions of America and China to leave rather than work with us are tragic, but not unexpected. We are still facing an alien invasion, we have an election to organise and we have a government to construct from scratch. In short, we have a great deal of work ahead of us and it will take ALL of us to make this unified future of humanity viable."

One by one the leaders of the world fell silent, and listened to the Indian Prime Ministers proposal.

* * *

 **Washington DC – Earth**

 **2112.11.10**

* * *

President Goldwater sat calmly in the residence portion of the Whitehouse. He was supposed to be out campaigning, but the polls had changed drastically since that fateful Alliance Executive Council session. They now showed him 15 points clear of his opponent, so he could make this call both without the fear of defeat or the guilt of leaving his surrogates swinging in the breeze.

"President Goldwater." The scrambled phone finally connected.

"President Li." The American President answered as his opposite number, Li Xiuqing, President of the Peoples Republic of China, came on the line.

"Congratulations on your election victory, Mr President." There was no mockery in the Chinese President's tone. Only genuine warmth.

Andrew Goldwater snorted. "I haven't actually won yet, there's still a week to go."

"My advisors have been keeping an eye on the polls, give your renown ability to spin and the strength of your voting base your victory was likely even before your strong and proud response to that travesty of a session. Now it's a certainty."

President Goldwater didn't want to tempt fate, but it certainly seemed like President Li was correct. Still, it sat badly with him.

He'd made a calculated reaction in the Executive Council Session, knowing what the initial reaction of the American people would be to such a proposal he had simply parroted it at the rest of the Executive Council. Hoping to sway several of the more non-committed members away from the India/EU/military faction and back into the USA's sphere of influence. He had been so busy wargaming the best way to preserve American power never stopped to consider if the petitioners actually had a point, if maybe a directly elected parliament was the best way for the Systems Alliance to go.

The American people would have been horrified at the very idea of course, but leaders were supposed to lead people, not just follow them. It would have been an immense challenge but maybe, just maybe he could have turned the initial tidal wave of anger around and sold the idea of a parliament to them. While at the same time working the other member states to make sure that the seats in that parliament were assigned on economic power, not population, thus neutering India's grab for power and dominance.

He had wargamed the scenario but dismissed it as to volatile to attempt, especially so close to the election. But now, staring down the barrel of the all-in gamble he had decided on, it seemed no more of a challenge than what he was about to attempt.

Andrew Goldwater shook his head as he realised that he had been wool gathering. It had never really been an option. Even if it would have been possible to turn the people's opinion around so close to an election – which was unlikely – trying was far more likely to see him defeated in an electoral college rout before actually working. But even if he had thought it was possible, Rajendra Tharoor had slammed the door firmly shut on that option with his dramatic and public announcement.

He had rallied his own citizens, and a surprising number of the other member states, but announcing it like that, humiliating the President of the United States on live television? That had burned any bridge that this new Alliance could have tried to tempt the American people across, at least until their anger and indignation died down which could be months. The Alliance's election was in 6 weeks.

"I am glad that you have taken my call Mr President." President Goldwater began cautiously, feeling out his former opponent who now had the potential to be a very powerful ally. "As I see it we have a mutual interest in either restoring the Systems Alliance to its executive council format, or removing it entirely and going forward as independent nation states. Working out our species wide policies as and when required with international summits."

"I am…. Surprised to see you so ready to abandon the Alliance President Goldwater, given how much effort the US put into creating it." President Li's tone was also cautious.

The irony was certainly not lost on Andrew Goldwater as he ground his teeth. "Believe me, so am I. But I am not willing to see the American people locked out of space because we refuse to Kowtow to India. Tharoor is behind this, my cabinet is certain of it, and so am I. Our European allies wouldn't have abandoned us so suddenly, or without warning, if he hadn't made some serious promises. Promises he'll use India's population derived voting block to deliver on when the new parliament is elected."

"What do you suggest Mr President? As your actions are the more legally limited of the two of us, perhaps you would be prepared to offer some insight as to the direction we could take."

President Goldwater ground his teeth so hard that he was worried he would have to visit the dentist to check he hadn't broken any. Li Xiuqing was enjoying this, rubbing his face in the monumental failure of the State Department and the CIA, neither of which saw any sign of this coming from any of the governments involved.

President Li was certainly even less used to being humiliated than he was, the Chinese President had never had to run for an election after all. At least not as an American understood the term election anyway. Now he was lashing out in his humiliation.

It was a human reaction, but it placed a little seed of doubt in President Goldwater's mind. If President Li was willing to let his damaged pride dictate his actions when talking to the President of the United States, an equal he absolutely had to keep onside if they were going to get out of this mess, what was going to happen if the situation in China continued to deteriorate? Would he take a conciliatory line or a harsh one with the protestors? And what would be the outcome?

Shaking his head at the realisation that he had been wool-gathering, yet again, the American President put his own damaged pride to the side and set out his plan to get the best result he thought he could deliver for the American people. "We have three stages we need to work at. Short, medium and long term."

On the desk in front of him were dozens of folders filled with analysis from the state department and the intelligence community, all of which had been poured over to come up with the plan of action. "Stage 1: The short term. We try and strangle this new Alliance in its cradle."

"I like this plan already." President Li commented, amused at the idea of a US President, usually so forceful in their promotion of democracy, planning to smother the creation of the biggest democracy humans had ever seen.

President Goldwater slipped into campaign mode, letting the amusement wash off him as his opponent's slurs did at rallies and on the stump. "We use American media and Chinese cash to fund and give a platform to the anti-alliance faction, in all of the member states that hold elections for this new Constitutional Assembly."

"I doubt we can produce a large enough change of opinion in time, its only six weeks away." President Li commented dubiously, even with his limited experience of elections he could see that it was a huge challenge.

"That's where your wrong." President Goldwater let a predatory grin slip onto his face, using his vast experience with the democratic electoral machine to point out their best advantage in the upcoming election. "The pro-alliance vote is going to be split between candidates advocating different types of Systems Alliance. The anti-alliance vote can all be rallied around a single candidate in each constituency. A candidate who as their first vote in the Assembly, will call for its immediate dissolution and the restoration of the Executive council."

"America only really has two parties, but Britain has 7, and candidates regularly win seats there with a vote share percentage in the low 30s. With all the different opinions as to what the new Systems Alliance should be, the number of candidates in each seat is going to be closer to 7 than it is to 2."

The silence on the other end of the line indicated that President Li was now giving his American counterpart his full and undivided attention. He knew how close they were to making that work already with the existing anti-alliance sentiment, just a 5 or 6 point swing towards the anti-alliance faction in each country would see swathes of anti-alliance delegates sent to the Constitutional Assembly.

"Medium term?"

"Expertise. They have Europe and Japan on their side, sadly, but there is nothing we can do about that. On the other hand, the number of Indian scientists and engineers in the Alliance's R&D programmes is pathetic, and the number of Russians is worse given all the purges their academic staff get put through on a regular basis."

"We put up whatever resources we need to counter the Alliance's recruiting efforts and appeal to our citizens patriotism. We will gut the Alliance's R&D programmes with the loss of personnel and replicate them as joint endeavours, cost and benefits shared by both of us, at least keeping us level technologically and hopefully pushing us ahead. Despite the Alliance having the advantage of continued access to the Prothean ruins while we are forced to rely on archived data from them."

"And as soon as this war is over, we do the same with the military." President Li jumped in enthusiastically. "All the ships and tanks in the world don't make a single bit of difference if the Alliance doesn't have the personnel to man them. They won't be able to replace the losses with properly trained personnel anymore than they will be able to replace the scientists and engineers quickly. It takes years to train these people."

"We taught the Kuomintang what happens when you send poorly trained troops against proper soldiers, the Alliance will soon be looking down the barrel of the same problem when they see how many of our nationals return home."

"Which brings us to long term. Economic warfare and military build-up." President Goldwater smiled, glad that his counterpart was singing from the same hymn sheet as it were. "We use our current diplomatic and military power to entice the neutral nations into trade deals with us, once we have them hooked we make those trade deals mutually exclusive with Systems Alliance trade deals. They'll have an advantage of course with the off-world trade, but most of humanity is here on Earth, and quantity has a quality all of its own."

"The Anaconda plan brought down the Confederate States of America, it brought down the Soviet Union. It WILL bring down the Systems Alliance."

"My own military has been working on surface to orbit weapons for some time." President Li revealed. "In the spirit of our new co-operation I will make it a joint project with you. Once we have ironed out the kinks and got them into production, well, when those Alliance fools loose orbital supremacy, they'll be left only with their armies here on Earth. Facing down the two most powerful human nations in existence. They'll surrender and let us back into space, or we'll simply force the issue."

A shiver came over President Goldwater at the thought of a conflict on that scale, a conflict that had the potential to easily escalate into world war three. But he took comfort in the knowledge that it was years away and that the Systems Alliance would almost certainly capitulate to their diplomatic demands.

When they could no longer rely on orbital support to beef up the hitting power of their vastly numerically and technologically inferior member state armies, they wouldn't really have a choice. Going to war with the USA and China in such circumstances would be suicide.

"I will begin working on a list of anti-alliance parties that the Peoples Republic can fund in all of the states that are holding Constitutional Assembly elections." President Li spoke quickly, sounding confident. Now that they had a viable course of action to either smother the Alliance Parliament at birth or bypass the Alliance entirely he was eager to get started.

"I'll call in all of my speechwriting staff." President Goldwater replied. "They'll be no rest for them even after I'm re-elected next week. We have another election to win, spread across half the globe and with only six weeks to do it."

Both Presidents had their doubts, but both also knew that it was too late now. They had decided on all-in gambles to maintain the power and influence of their people and thus they were committed to the course. They had to regain control of the Systems Alliance, bypass it entirely, or fail in the attempt. They and their opposite numbers in the Alliance had slammed the doors shut on everything else.

* * *

 **New Delhi – Earth**

 **2112.11.10**

* * *

Prime Minister Rajendra Tharoor sat rubbing his eyes tiredly in the emergency conference room. Present – via video link – were the other leaders of the Systems Alliance member nations. "Next crisis."

"The loss of the Americans continues to cause my people great concern." The Japanese PM cut in. "Are we sure that there is no way to bring them back? Does their Congress not need to authorise their withdrawal from the Alliance?"

"No." The Canadian PM's answer was short and to the point. "The US Constitution requires that any international treaty signed by the President must be ratified by a supermajority of Congress. It specifically DOES NOT require that Congress ratify a President's decision to LEAVE an international treaty or organisation. It's a trap that most people who have only superficial knowledge of the US Constitution fall into."

"Loopholes are everywhere in a written Constitution if you go looking for them." The Turkish PM muttered. "They make great fodder for political thrillers, but bloody awkward governance when someone exploits a loophole most of your population would have sworn blind wasn't there."

"The whole point is moot." Mexico's President intervened in frustration. "The USA's participation in international organisations that they don't have total control over has been the same throughout their entire history. Don't. They only participated in the Systems Alliance because they created it. Now we are transitioning to a democratic system based on population and their delegates could be outvoted in Parliament by India alone, they won't touch it with a bargepole."

Left unmentioned was the back-channel proposal from an American senator that they could see their way to re-entering the Alliance and sending delegates to the Constitutional Assembly. If its membership was decided by the economic power of the constituent nations rather than their population. The outrage of the national leaders over the one dollar, one vote proposal was intense and had quickly decided their response.

Everyone deserved an equal say in their government, so the Constitutional Assembly would be elected on the same basis that many of their governments already were. One person, one vote.

"Unfortunately, correct." France's President interjected. Our support in the US Congress is about the same as our support in the US in general, about 32%. A supermajority with 8% to spare is rallying behind President Goldwater. The Americans are lost to us for the foreseeable future."

Japan's PM spoke up again. "With the Americans truly lost to us, it may be very difficult for me to get the legislation authorising our participation in the elections for the Constitutional Assembly passed. Asking a people to join a newly created federal superstate with no warning is a large challenge."

"Point your members of parliament towards the baying mobs of voters outside." The Argentinian President groaned. "That should give them sufficient motivation. It worked for all the rest of us."

"Yes." The Spanish PM noted angrily. "But it's given others an opening we had hoped to avoid. The colonies all being on our side is fully expected, they are all afraid that they will be the next one to be sacrificed to aliens if we keep the squabbling Executive Council. All except the American and Chinese colonies are offering their full and unconditional support in politics, money, materials and workforce. Provided they are included in the Constitutional Assembly as independent states."

"They were always semi-independent. All of our colonies were going to break away from each of us at some point. It might as well be now, without bloodshed, rather than us trying to hold on and fight insurrection after insurrection until eventually they win. All of us have been on one side or the other of that fight, I don't think it's one any of us want to revisit again." Prime Minister Tharoor stared at Prime Minister Cable as he spoke. Though the temperature dropped, all of the grumbling stopped.

The simple fact was that with the loss of the Americans and the Chinese the world economy was in total chaos and all of them, homelands and colonies alike, had to hang together. Or else they would all be hung separately. The loss of 35% of the Alliance budget had been bad enough, they couldn't allow any disruption to the space-based trade that was the lifeblood of the Alliance. It would doom all of them.

"It's strange though." The Polish PM spoke up. "How strongly our populations have supported this move, how strongly they seem to believe that there will be a turian fleet overhead and they will all be slaves. Unless they pressure their MPs or Congressmen into passing the Constitutional Assembly Election legislation. I wonder what could possibly have caused it?" The Polish MP glared forcefully as he spoke, the question was purely rhetorical. He knew the answer to it, they all did.

President Ivanov of Russia simply smiled enigmatically at the Polish PM's glare. "You were all happy to use the results. Westerners, you've got no stomach for steering the people when democracy needs a firm hand on the wheel. In Russia, we know what needs to be done. It is like sausages, just enjoy the results. Never ask how it was made."

Collectively they let the comment slide, because President Ivanov was right. The skill of the Moscow public perception manipulation machine was unmatched, and it had been extremely useful. Getting what would otherwise have been knife edge legislature votes authorising their leader's decisions in the council chamber passed with a bit of breathing room.

"I'll get it passed." Japan's PM whispered quietly. Japan was the last country to ratify, once they had done so. The election campaign could begin.

"Next Crisis?" PM Tharoor asked.

"How about the hundreds of lawsuits piling up in the courts at all the international laws we've broken?" The Italian PM spoke up.

"Yes, because creating a federal superstate to unify humanity is something that international law is perfectly designed to deal with." The German Chancellor practically yelled exasperatedly. "How long can we keep them tied up in delaying actions and outright stalling?"

"Months."

"Do it, the election is in 6 weeks. By the time the first case is even heard it will be too late for them to do anything about it."

"Not entirely true, but as we will be one nation in space any violations of international law will be Earth bound only. Here we will have the economic and political power to buy off, ignore, or pressure the plaintiffs into withdrawing their lawsuits. Remember everyone. Sausages." President Ivanov looked like he was having the most fun he had had in weeks, which was a stark contrast to the rest of them."

"Fine, why not? We'd never get the Constitutional Assembly together this century if we tried to obey all the international law that might possibly be applicable anyway. Next Crisis?"

"No non-Systems Alliance member state is allowed to use the relays. As such this leaves us in a bit of a pickle with the American and Chinese colonies." The President of Brazil lay out their next problem.

"Less than you'd think." The Thai PM smiled. "Shanxi didn't like being left to die and Guangxi and Elysium feel their sister colony's pain. Their willing to secede from the Peoples Republic of China, at once. Provided they can send their delegates to the Constitutional Assembly as one nation. The Celestial Peoples Republic. They expect the Chinese station colonies to fall in line very quickly."

Silence fell as they all collectively pondered the proposal before the Moroccan PM spoke up. "It means we're only going to have to institute a blockade of 2 relays instead of 5. I say we go for it."

"Agreed. But what about the American colonies, Destiny and Freedom? They are not going to abandon their mother country, at least not any time soon." New Zealand's PM raised concerns.

"Our decision at the start of the Alliance was clear, and it was even American instigated. No non-Alliance member state can use the relays. We have only one option, as my Moroccan counterpart said. We blockade the secondary relays in those clusters and do not allow any American shipping through, nor any other shipping heading for Destiny or Freedom. They can trade with the other planets in their clusters, but not with each other, and certainly not with the USA here on Earth."

"Oh, the Americans are going to LOVE that!"

"Thanks to the Treaty of Mars the don't have a space going navy to force the issue in orbit. And here on Earth their ICBMs and submarine launched nukes are useless given the interception efficiencies of the new guardian point defence arrays. As long as we keep frigates with their guardian arrays warmed up in an interception net across all Alliance member states airspace, we will be immune to a nuclear first strike and they would never risk the casualties of a conventional war. I believe the appropriate phrase is 'bite me'." The Australian PM was blunt and to the point.

"Well the diplomatic fall out from that will be a sight to behold, but I don't see a way around it. Next crisis?"

"The ships. Several warships with majority Chinese or American crews are already refusing orders. Its far less than it could be as so many ships have totally mixed crews, but still. It is concerning." Iran's President had a hint of fear in his voice. "As the American and Chinese constitutions forbid their citizens serving in foreign military's we could lose a lot of manpower."

"Offer direct Alliance citizenship to all of them, if they don't take it let them head home, but keep the ships. Make sure to let the Chinese know that citizenship of the Celestial Peoples Republic is an option. That might get a lot more than we think to stay with us." The South African PM set out their best option.

"And the ships refusing orders?"

"Deny them relay travel and resupply. Eventually they'll surrender and be sent home, leaving us the ship. Or they'll destroy the ship, hand themselves in, and be sent home as we can't afford the PR disaster of imprisoning them. Or they'll turn pirate, in which case we can hunt them down with a clear conscience." Nigeria's PM spoke coldly, but he spoke sense.

"Alright. At least Admiral Drescher's fleet is still in enemy territory. I don't think that any of the ships there will cause trouble when battle may occur at any moment. So, we have some time before this habit of ships refusing orders hits the Grand Fleet."

"Can we hide it from them?"

"You want to hide this from a fleet that well-armed? Even if most of their crews are mixed?"

"Fair point."

"Treat them fairly and the most we'll probably get from the American and Chinese dominated ships are some destroyed ships and sailors to get home. Try and hide it from them and we may have a shooting mutiny."

"Alright. Fine. Right, next crisis." Rajendra Tharoor yawned but immediately sprang alert as a security cleared aid barged in.

"Prime Minister, its Admiral Drescher. She's engaged the Asari."

* * *

 _Codex Entry: The Fate of the Peoples Republic of China_

 _(Citadel Codex, First Human SPECTRE Collector's Edition, 2183)_

* * *

 _By the time of the First Contact war the human nation state known as China had technically been engaged in civil war for nearly 200 years._

 _Following the end of its rule by an absolute monarch (known as the Emperor of China) in 1912 CE, the nation state could not agree on a new political system to replace the Imperial one. While in theory there was a unified government, in practice China fell apart into squabbling states under warlords. These would gradually recoalesce through diplomacy and war until the human conflict known as the Second World War caused all sides to unite in opposition to the invading Japanese Empire._

 _Following the war, the two remaining sides from the waring states period were the Republic of China (Nationalists) and the Peoples Republic of China (Communists). Almost as soon as the war was declared over the Nationalists – who controlled most of China – began a major offensive against the Communists. Forcing them back with heavy casualties and leaving them on the verge of defeat as their shattered armies were forced to retreat, and then hotly pursued by Nationalist forces. Giving the Communists no chance to regroup and reorganise._

 _However, the United States of America wished for a coalition government in China, rather than more civil war. They dispatched General Marshall to negotiate it in December 1945 CE._

 _The talks were an utter disaster. Neither side wished to engage in them, but the USA was supplying a great deal of weapons, equipment and money to the Nationalists and suspended this aid to force the Nationalists to the negotiating table. (This embargo would last until 1947 CE in an attempt to force the talks to resume. The embargo ended as the civil war turned against the Nationalists, who were by far the American's preferred Chinese government. But by then their resumption was too little, too late.)_

 _Pleased with anything that halted the devastating Republic of China advance, the Communists also agreed to attend the talks. Historians remain divided whether that decision to attend was made in good faith, or as a cynical ploy to gain time to regroup and prepare a new offensive regardless of what was negotiated._

 _The negotiations almost immediately stalled on both sides intransigence and soon broke down. In June 1946 CE the civil war resumed. This time however, the Communists – now rested, reorganised and rearmed – gained the initiative._

 _By 1949 CE the Communists had conquered northern China and destroyed 144 divisions of the Nationalist army, consisting of over 1.54 million veteran troops. This effectively ripped the backbone out of the Nationalist army, leaving them with only outnumbered – poorly trained – conscripts to face the battle-hardened Peoples Liberation Army._

 _The Soviet Union also wished for a coalition government in China, but they had far less success restraining the Communists than the USA had had restraining the Nationalists. Defying orders from Stalin, the Communists chased the shattered Nationalists into southern China._

 _The Nationalists continued to fall back and back, chased across China until they were forced to retreat to the final province under their control, the island of Taiwan. There they were protected from invasion by the USA's 7_ _th_ _fleet. The Republic of China would stay confined to that island for the next 200 years, while the Peoples Republic of China controlled the mainland and was effectively the only China to the rest of the world._

 _The lesson of the collapse of the Chinese Imperial Dynasty and the Chinese Civil war is the importance of the Mandate of Heaven. The idea, unique to Chinese culture, that there is only one legitimate ruler of the nation. Revolts and natural disasters indicate that the current ruler has lost the Mandate of Heaven, and thus the people are permitted to rebel and compete to replace them. Whoever can bring order to the chaos has the favour of the gods, they have taken the Mandate of Heaven from the existing rulers and the peoples loyalty should transfer to them. They and their heirs will rule China, unless they in turn lose the Mandate of Heaven._

 _The specific spiritual nature of the Mandate fell out of favour with the fall of the final Imperial Dynasty, but the idea that the government only deserved to hold power as long as it guarantees prosperity, order and security persists. It was this cultural belief of the Chinese people that had led to President Li being so unwilling to have a Chinese colony liberated by non-alliance forces. He felt that it would damage the Chinese Communist Party's claim to the Mandate of Heaven. Unfortunately, the actions he took intending to avoid this turned into a self-fulfilling prophecy._

 _The utter humiliation of the Peoples Republic of China on the world stage, their expulsion from the Systems Alliance, and the open revolt and secession of their three off world colonies to form the Celestial Peoples Republic convinced the Chinese people that the Chinese Communist Party had lost the Mandate of Heaven. The riots already taking place across China became open revolts._

 _For more than a year the Peoples Liberation Army was able to keep a lid on things, rushing from province to province, city to city, crushing revolt after revolt. But the damage to the Chinese economy from all of this unrest only made the situation worse, fed by the economic collapse and the harsh suppression methods used by the PLA each revolt was larger than the last. It was clear to everyone watching around the globe that something would have to give._

 _Finally, in 2114 CE, a year and a half after China left the Alliance, the first domino fell. With much of the PLA withdrawn to the interior of China to maintain order, the Muslim majority province of Xinjiang, (which had been experiencing a violent separatist movement for the last century following a deliberate Han Chinese settlement programme to dilute the indigenous culture,) finally overwhelmed the remaining Peoples Liberation Army units in the province._

 _They immediately declared themselves the free and independent nation state of Turkistan._

 _Any last shreds of doubt that the Peoples Republic of China had lost the Mandate of Heaven were blown away with the secession of Xinjiang, the world watched, expecting a swift and brutal reconquest of the breakaway province. But the Peoples Liberation Army had finally been stretched beyond its limits._

 _The Chinese government tried to free up PLA units to go and smash this new breakaway state, but the news of its secession the revolts in the Chinese heartlands became full scale rebellions. Totally occupied with maintaining order in the Chinese heartlands the Peoples Republic had little choice but to abandon Xinjiang for the foreseeable future, de-facto recognising the state of Turkistan._

 _When they realised China was unable to reclaim its breakaway Muslim province, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan moved quickly to aid their religious brethren and signed a mutual defence and development aid package with Turkistan, killing the hopes of the Chinese government of ever reclaiming it._

 _Seeing the success of their northern neighbour in breaking free, the province of Tibet, (which had been vassalized under threat of force in 1951 CE and then fully annexed by force following a failed attempt at independence in 1959 CE,) decided the time was ripe for another attempt._

 _With secret supplies of money, equipment and weapons from India, the Tibetans overwhelmed and chased out the occupying Peoples Liberation Army forces in 2115 CE. The re-established Kingdom of Tibet quickly signed mutual defence and development aid treaties with its powerful southern neighbour, the Republic of India._

 _The expulsion of Han Chinese from the Kingdom would be a great source of diplomatic stress for the new state. As, like Xinjiang, they had been deliberately settled in Tibetan lands by the Chinese government to overwhelm the local Tibetan culture, the new Kingdom wanted them gone. The Republic of India was unwilling to support a country deliberately expelling so many civilians into what was now effectively a warzone that was engulphing the whole of China outside of the PLA strongpoints._

 _A compromise was reached, and the expelled Han Chinese were housed in the now empty Tibetan refugee camps in northern India. An irony that was not lost on them._

 _By now the Peoples Republic of China was in no state to do anything about Tibet regaining its independence or about the new Kingdom expelling the Han Chinese that they had colonised the area with. Beset by rebels on all sides they were struggling just to survive as the government of China's heartlands. However, the situation was about to get worse for them._

 _The rebel forces across China were becoming victims of their own success, they were now beginning to fight each other as well as the Peoples Liberation Army as they came into contact with each other more and more. Hoping to take advantage of this, the PLA began to withdraw from the south west of China._

 _The plan was that the rebels would suddenly find themselves with no unifying outside enemy and would turn on each other instead. Exhausting themselves against each other, before collapsing when the Peoples Liberation Army – rested and reorganised – swept in and defeated them when they had ground one another down. This had the added benefit of freeing up PLA units for pacification duties in the north._

 _Human military experts are divided on whether this strategy would have worked without outside interference. But that interference did come, and it turned the PLA's plan into a catastrophic error._

 _Deciding it was now or never, in June 2116 CE the Taiwanese army stormed ashore in Hong Kong, Macau and the island province of Hainan. Offered heroes welcomes in the last province captured by the communists in the civil war (Hainan) and the former western colonies who were having their western altered culture suppressed by the implacable demands for conformity (Hong Kong and Macau) the Taiwanese army quickly advanced upriver and captured the city of Guangzhou. Within a month they had captured the entire province of Guangdong._

 _Now answering only to its official name of the Republic of China, the former Taiwanese (now Nationalist) army halted to rest and regroup while the politicians talked to the rebels. In a large meeting in Hong Kong, known as the Great Consensus, the Taiwanese leaders used every trick in the book to unite the rebels behind the resurgent Republic of China. Constantly referencing the last time China had descended into waring states and the communist takeover that had followed._

 _Eventually the rebels agreed the various groups swore allegiance to the Republic of China in return for money, weapons, equipment, and more provincial autonomy in the Republic than the Peoples Republic had ever allowed._

 _Only the rebels of Yunnan refused to recognise the Republic of China as their legitimate rulers. When they gained full control of the province in late 2116 CE and declared the Yunnan Empire, the reforming Republic of China/Taiwanese government decided to let them go. Calculating that trying to force them back into China militarily would upset the delicate alliance between themselves, the rebel forces, and the public opinion of the outside world._

 _The war in the south would continue for another three years as the disparate rebel groups and Taiwanese army slowly forged themselves into one militarily. The political systems slowly took shape as the Republican government, used to only administering a single province, slowly extended its authority into rebel held areas across the south of China._

 _Finally, political and militarily one nation, the former rebel and Taiwanese forces began a massive offensive all along the front line and the Republic Army pushed north. 170 years after they had been chased out, Nationalist forces entered Nanjing and the government of the Republic of China returned to its capital._

 _With the return of the government of the Republic of China to its capital in 2119 CE, most of the Chinese population decided that they had successfully taken the Mandate of Heaven from the Chinese Communist Party. Everywhere support for the Peoples Republic of China and the Peoples Liberation Army collapsed. Zhengzhou, Qingdou, and other cities fell quickly as the Nationalist army swept north._

 _With the fall of Baoding, and under pressure from Russia, the province of Outer Mongolia seceded from the Peoples Republic and joined with Mongolia. The government in Beijing barely had time to notice, within three months Nationalist forces took the city, and the Peoples Republic of China ceased to exist._

 _The shattered remnants of the Peoples Liberation Army fled into Manchuria, but unlike when they had chased the shattered nationalist armies, there was no island province for them to flee to. Various parts made final stands at Harbin and at Changchun. But with the crushing of the final PLA units at Dalian in July 2120 CE, The Republic of China was recognised by the entire world as the sole and undisputed ruler of China. 174 years after it began, the Chinese Civil War finally ended._

 _Upon their victory, the Republic of China asked to join the Systems Alliance and they became a member state in 2121 CE, they were followed by the Kingdom of Tibet 2124 CE. Turkistan remains as stable and open state, trading freely with the world, but they decided against Alliance membership._

 _The Empire of Yunnan has also never joined the Alliance, they remain a happily isolationist state interacting with the rest of the world as little as possible._

 _To the shock of many humans, relations between the Republic of China and the Celestial Peoples Republic have been surprisingly warm and continue to be so to this day._

 _*A map showing this in more detail has been added to my tumblr. thefourthcouncilrace dot tumblr dot com_

* * *

 _Codex Entry: The Fate of the United States of America_

 _(Citadel Codex, First Human SPECTRE Collector's Edition, 2183)_

* * *

 _It is a matter of fierce debate whether the USA could have wrestled control of the Systems Alliance back if China had not descended into civil war. Together they might well have been able to do so. Alone, America had only a very small chance, and it was not to be._

 _When the USA walked out of the Systems Alliance, much like when the American War of Independence began, 1/3_ _rd_ _of the American population were for the Alliance, 1/3_ _rd_ _were against it and 1/3_ _rd_ _were undecided. General Washington and the others had successfully rallied this last third to their side and defeated Britain. Now the Pro and Anti-Alliance political forces in America were trying to do the same._

 _The early colonisation of the Solar System had proceeded relatively peacefully, though each nation maintained their own warships to defend their colonies. The discovery of the Martian ruins and the 6-minute War changed everything. Facing down an unknown enemy, one that may wish to destroy all mankind, was a great galvanising force to unify. The last thing any military wanted was to be part of an awful coalition of various member states navy's. Trying to merge together different technology, command structures, training standards and traditions in the face of an alien attack._

 _The resistance against unification was strong and were it not for the 6-Minute War it might have succeeded. However, the shock following the events of the 5_ _th_ _of March 2085 provided incentive required for the unification side to win out. The Treaty of Mars was signed in 2086 CE._

 _With the restriction of a nation's future space forces to orbital guard cutters and the (official) disbanding of all existing space navies, the Treaty of Mars ensured that only one human political body was permitted to build and crew warships. The Systems Alliance._

 _Most historians agree that the only reason that America and China agreed to this was that they never even considered that they might lose control of the Alliance. Much like any country at the peak of their power throughout history, the thought of their decline was an anathema and not to be contemplated._

 _Regardless, the Treaty of Mars was signed in 2086 CE, which meant that when the USA walked away from the Alliance in 2112 CE they were left only with their handful of orbital guard cutters with which to face down the entire Systems Alliance Navy._

 _Several raiding ships that caused major problems across the Alliance shipping lanes are believed to have been US Space Navy warships, illegally constructed and operated in violation of the Treaty of Mars, but there was never any proof of these suspicions. Whether they were true or not, the raiders were the extent of the new Systems Alliance's interstellar problems. The conspiracy theories that the Americans and Chinese had each built and operated an entire battle fleet in violation of the Treaty of Mars was proved to be nonsense._

 _On Earth it was a different story. Though their nuclear arsenal had been rendered useless as the missiles used to deliver them were larger, slower and more vulnerable than the torpedoes Alliance frigates guardian arrays were designed to shoot down, the US army, the US navy and the US air force were still the most advanced and powerful on the planet._

 _The US army reacted the worst to the withdrawal from the Alliance. America's home territories had not been invaded since the British capture of Washington DC, the British/Canadian capture of what is now Wisconsin, and the British/Canadian advance into Michigan, Illinois, Missouri and Maine in the war of 1812._

 _Now, suddenly, they had a potentially hostile multi nation alliance on their huge, unsecured land borders to the north and south. It was fair to say that the Generals were not pleased as they franticly dusted off pre WW2 plans for the defence of America from an attack from Canada or Mexico._

 _The Air force was largely indifferent, but the navy was very pleased. The 10 Carrier groups of the US navy were almost immediately put to work, projecting American power to non-Alliance states and shadowing Alliance member states carrier groups._

 _They would be used extensively by the state department as leverage in trade negotiations, both as proof of American power to non-Alliance states and as blockading forces. Cutting off trade at several points in the USA/Alliance cold war._

 _When President Goldwater was elected for a second term, with an increased majority in both the House and Senate, a few weeks after that fateful Alliance Executive Council session, barely any in the anti-alliance faction believed that that would be their high point._

 _The collapse of China in early 2114 CE showed the cracks in that viewpoint, the midterms in late 2114 CE shook it to its core._

 _Over and over anti-Alliance fanatics took to the airwaves and to social media, denouncing the new Systems Alliance as a bureaucratic monster that would soon collapse under its own weight and internal contradictions. A tyrannical assault on freedom that must be resisted at all costs._

 _More reasonable anti-Alliance politicians, led by President Goldwater, thundered similar – though less vehement – rhetoric, while claiming that 'they need us more than we need them.' This, they argued, was why the Systems Alliance would allow them back into space and end the blockade of Destiny and Freedom._

 _It was this idea, that the Alliance needed the USA more than the USA needed the Alliance, that swayed so many of the swing third of the American population behind President Goldwater during his re-election campaign. If China hadn't descended into civil war, it might even have been true._

 _As it was, the single market and customs union forming between the Systems Alliance member states caused trade between them to explode. Chasing this massive growth in a union of countries that contained all but 2 of the top 20 world economies, more and more states negotiated trade deals with the Systems Alliance._

 _The Alliance's economy grew stronger and stronger until, eventually, it was strong enough to dictate that a trade deal for access to the Alliance single market would be mutually exclusive with a trade deal with the USA._

 _It was the developing single market and customs union between the Alliance members that really began to put the screws on the US economy. If the 2114 CE midterms shook the 'they need us more than we need them' attitude, the 2116 CE presidential election shattered it._

 _It almost didn't matter which party won the Whitehouse. Both the Republicans and the Democrats were wracked with internal divisions, pro and anti-Alliance members fighting for control of each party._

 _What mattered was the massive gains made in the Republican and Democratic primaries, and then in the House and Senate, by pro-Alliance representatives. The American economy was under immense stress by this point and had tipped into a full recession._

 _Compared to the growing economy of the Systems Alliance, fuelled in no small part by the vast array of resources pouring in from its interstellar colonies, the swing third of the American population was clearly beginning to swing towards the Alliance._

 _The extremist anti-Alliance politicians, of which the new President was one, upped their rhetoric. Filling the airwaves with denunciation of the cancerous and tyrannical Systems Alliance, suppressing its member states individual cultures in a mass indoctrination and homogenisation programme._

 _It was the midterms of 2118 CE that brought things to a head. For the first time, pro-Alliance delegates gained a majority in the US House of Representatives. Though they were still far off from the Senate supermajority needed to ratify entry into the Systems Alliance, their continuing growth of support and the accelerating downward trend of the US economy made the gaining of that supermajority, and the Whitehouse, almost inevitable._

 _It began slowly, quietly. Bricks through windows, arson attacks on businesses with pro-Alliance views. Then came the formation of the Patriot Brigades, groups of vigilantes who took it upon themselves to break up any pro-Alliance meeting and beat up any pro-Alliance speaker. Those with a love of history began to compare it to the worst parts of the Civil Rights era, where legitimate and peaceful meeting and demonstrations were broken up by force by their political opponents._

 _Censorship gradually began to creep into public life. One by one, pro-Alliance broadcasters were shut down by the federal government on any pretext they could find that wouldn't land them in the Supreme Court._

 _Pro-Alliance demonstrations flared up in response to the continuing actions of the patriot brigades. The police were sent in to use the full force of the law on the demonstrators, felony rioting charges saw hundreds of protesters locked up on 60 year sentences while the members of the patriot brigades continued to break up pro-Alliance rallies with impunity._

 _Recognising how dangerous the situation had become former President Andrew Goldwater re-entered public life. Supported by several other anti-Alliance politicians, he tried to calm the unrest. Publicly repudiating his previous stances, he tried to keep everyone together by telling America that the Systems Alliance hadn't turned out as badly as he had feared, and that if the pro-Alliance supporters gained their supermajority, it wasn't what he wanted, but it wouldn't be the end of the world, or the end of the United States._

 _It was a brave and principled stance. For putting the unity of the USA before his personal beliefs, Andrew Goldwater is commonly believed to be the last true President of the United States. Unfortunately, his efforts were too late. Like so many politicians before him in countries around the world, former President Goldwater learned that once you make a people hate something, it's almost impossible to get them to stop hating it._

 _The patriot brigades upped their activities, breaking up political rallies of any candidate of any party that held pro-Alliance views as the primaries for the 2120 CE presidential election got underway._

 _Finally, the pro-Alliance factions had been pushed too far. Abandoned by the police they began fighting back when the patriot brigades came to break up their rallies. So, the patriot brigades brought knives to the rallies, and then they brought guns._

 _Across the Alliance the fights descended into running gun battles which completely overwhelmed the police._

 _It was this that finally tipped things over the edge. Siding with the patriot brigades, who's views he shared and who formed a significant chunk of his voting base, President Alexander Johnson declared a state of emergency. The most pro-Alliance areas of Maryland and Virginia were declared areas 'In rebellion against the Union' and habaes corpus was suspended for their inhabitants by executive order._

 _The US army was sent in to support the police, arresting anyone suspected of pro-Alliance sympathies and sending them to internment camps similar to those used to house any American of Japanese descent during the human conflict known as World War Two._

 _The population of the United States exploded into rage. Opponents screamed that the President wasn't allowed to do this, that the Constitution and the separation of powers prevented him. The Supreme Court agreed and declared President Johnson's actions illegal._

 _President Johnson and his supporters countered those charges by announcing that they didn't have to follow the Supreme Court's decisions. They used the constitutional legal argument of 'departmentalism' – where in it is for each branch of the federal government to decide for itself what the limits of the Constitution are as they apply to that branch's powers – to state that the judicial branch could not force the executive branch to enforce its decisions if the executive branch disagreed with them._

 _According to President Johnson and his supporters, the fact that most presidents HAD enforced the Supreme Court's decisions didn't mean that they were OBLIGATED to enforce them. As President Lincoln had ignored the Supreme Court ruling that his suspension of habaes corpus in areas in rebellion against the Union was unconstitutional, so President Johnson argued that he was entitled to do the same._

 _This departmentalism constitutional argument could be traced back to Thomas Jefferson, and the fact that so few Americans had even heard of such a long-standing interpretation of constitutional law showed how valid it was. Before President Johnson had used it, the last time it had even been mentioned was when it was used to explain presidential candidate Newt Gingrich's 2011 CE claim that he could order the USA's national security agencies to ignore the Supreme Court's rulings on matters of national security._

 _Regardless it provided President Johnson with a legal fig leaf. The roundups in Maryland and Virginia continued and expanded into pro-Alliance areas of Delaware and West Virginia._

 _The expansion of the roundups was the final straw. Across the United States pro-Alliance citizens fled to pro-Alliance states, fearing that they would soon be rounded up otherwise. Anti-Alliance citizens fled to anti-Alliance states, either fearing they would be killed in the crossfire when the military came to round up their pro Alliance neighbours, or so they could join the patriot brigades in routing out the traitors._

 _Away from the continental United States however, the impact of the roundups and the impotence of the Supreme Court was even more profound. Watching in horror at the destruction of the Constitution, and how no one seemed to be willing or capable of stopping it, the colonies of Destiny and Freedom both declared independence from the USA._

 _Stating that they would keep the principles of the US Constitution alive, even when their Earthbound mother country did not, the newly independent worlds would both join the Systems Alliance as individual nation states in 2120 CE._

 _Inspired by the example set by Destiny and Freedom; Alaska and Hawaii, both states with pro-Alliance supermajority's, seceded from the United States of America._

 _Alaska joined with Canada, becoming that nations 11_ _th_ _province, while Hawaii declared the re-establishment of the Kingdom of Hawaii. Seizing their chance to become fully fledged members of a country rather than effective colonies, Puerto Rico, Guam and other Pacific and Atlantic island territories of the USA would join the Kingdom of Hawaii in the coming weeks._

 _For the first time since 1861 CE states had seceded from the United States of America, but this time they had an advantage that was not present last time. International protection._

 _As the situation had deteriorated the Systems Alliance had faced increased calls to step in and calm the fighting, especially if it descended into civil war_ _. Failing to intervene led to humanitarian catastrophes and war crimes such as the Rwandan Genocide and the Rohingya Expulsion. Calls of; Neutrality always benefits the aggressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented, were heard across the Alliance as the situation in America and China continued to deteriorate._

 _But for every successful intervention such as Kosovo and Mali there were failed ones such as Iraq. A general rule seemed to apply, the larger and more developed the country descending into civil war, the less likely an interventions chance of success was. The likelihood of being caught in a multi way battle, lasting decades, that ended with the intervening powers as a universally hated occupying force increased proportionally as well._

 _The Alliance refused all calls to intervene. Calculating that given the size and development of the countries involved, the chance of accidentally starting world war three was too great. They did however, declare the Kingdom of Hawaii a Systems Alliance Protectorate as soon as they seceded. Stating that any attempt to take away the right to self-determination by its inhabitants would be an act of war._

 _The two US navy carrier groups, dispatched to force Hawaii back into the United States by force of arms were turned back, the US government was unwilling to engage the Alliance in open warfare given their current internal problems. The Kingdom of Hawaii would join the Systems Alliance in 2120 CE along with Destiny and Freedom._

 _Following this 'betrayal' by their colonies and two States, the anti-Alliance faction descended into rage. They demanded that the States be ordered to use their National Guards to round up any pro-Alliance sympathisers to prevent any further secessions and maintain the territorial integrity of the continental United States. President Johnson, humiliated by such a 'betrayal' of both the United States and the political faction he represented, federalised all 48 remaining National Guards and happily gave the order to intern anyone suspected of pro-Alliance sympathies across the entire United States._

 _The state of Texas had always had friendly rivalry with the federal government. In the lone star State, the pro and anti-Alliance factions were much more finely balanced than in Hawaii or Alaska, and there was no clear majority either for or against the Alliance. But the one thing that virtually all Texans could agree was totally unacceptable, was the federal government telling them that they had to round up their fellow Texans._

 _Denouncing President Johnson for ordering it, and the Supreme Court and the Congress for being powerless to stop him. Texas announced that it was seceding from the United States and was now the Republic of Texas. They would figure out if they wanted to join the Systems Alliance on their own, with no patriot brigades and no mass roundups._

 _With the loss of another state of the Union, Congress impeached President Johnson. As he had with the Supreme Court, President Johnson simply ignored them. As so many republics had found throughout human history. A constitution is just ink on a page, what gives it its power is the amount of faith and trust that its population places in it, and how far they are prepared to go to defend it._

 _Politicians had attacked the US Constitution for so long, refusing to carry out its mandated duties such as confirm presidential appointments or to ensure that only Congress could declare war, that the people of the United States had lost faith in their Constitution. Like the Supreme Court before it, Congress found itself powerless before a President that simply ignored them impeaching him, and a military that remained loyal to the President._

 _President Johnsons rage at Texas's secession was biblical. Just as when Hungary and Czechoslovakia had tried to leave the Soviet Union (in 1956 CE and 1968 CE respectively) he immediately ordered the army to bring Texas back into the United States by force. The US army began to move south as the US air force began to engage the Texas Air National Guard in battle. Seeing the writing on the wall and the dictatorship that was forming, Oklahoma and New Mexico seceded from the USA and joined the Republic of Texas, adding their own Air National Guards to the growing battle._

 _The Republic of Texas spent the following years in respectful discussion as to which way they wished to take their new nation. Eventually they came to a decision, and it was to remain fully independent. The Republic of Texas would never join the Alliance, but to this day they remain a free and democratic nation, with a booming economy and good relations with the Alliance. Happily remaining planet bound in return for full independence._

 _At the same time as Oklahoma and New Mexico were joining the Republic of Texas, heavily pro-Alliance California also saw the writing on the wall and the dictatorship that was forming with the utter failure of the last check and balance; impeachment. Following the example of Texas, California announced that they were seceding from the USA to form the California Republic. Washington, Oregon, Nevada and Arizona would join the California Republic over the coming weeks. Joining the Systems Alliance in 2123 CE the California Republic soon became one of the economic powerhouses of the Systems Alliance._

 _With the growing air battle and ordered ground invasion of the Republic of Texas, and the secession of the California Republic, the United States Military had finally had enough. The President was their Commander in Chief and they had all sworn an oath of loyalty to him as well as to the Constitution, but he had ignored the Supreme Court ordering him to stop, he had ignored the Congress impeaching him, and he had ignored the warnings of the State governors to such an extent that the United States of America currently consisted of only 40 states._

 _Pushed too far, the mid ranking generals committed mutiny against the Joint Chiefs, and the other high ranking generals that had supported President Johnson as he trampled all over the both the Constitution and the two other branches of the government._

 _The military returned to protect the states that most of them were from, the states that had always taken a special pride in military service. Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, West Virginia and Kentucky were soon occupied by the majority of the former US military in a military junta known as the Union of Steel._

 _The generals of the Union of Steel would impose order through an authoritarian police state form of government, but they always intended to return to civilian rule. Gradually they loosened their grip as the hatred whipped up by President Johnson and the patriot brigades faded over time. The Union of Steel returned to civilian rule in 2146 CE and joined the Systems Alliance later that year._

 _It is a matter of regret for many humans that there is no video footage of President Johnson being told he had to leave the Whitehouse and Washington DC as the former US military closed in. Whatever reasons the Generals had for letting him go were never released to the public, but the Union of Steel's Airforce made no attempt to shoot down Air Force One as President Johnson fled the former capital of the United States._

 _The news awaiting President Johnson when he landed in heavily anti-Alliance Wyoming continued to get worse._

 _Fearing that the Union of Steel would continue to push north, the New England States had decided to beat them to it by severing themselves from President Johnson and the USA, removing any temptation the Generals had to add them to their junta._

 _Announcing something that had been under discussion with increasing seriousness as the situation continued to deteriorate, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Vermont, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine declared themselves the United States of New England. Stating that the new USNE had nothing to fear from them, the Union of Steel was among the first to offer recognition and their protection._

 _The United States of New England graciously accepted, while working frantically to strengthen their National Guard units that had combined to form the new USNE military. Over the coming years the new union would peacefully sort out its position with regards to the Systems Alliance before finally applying for membership in the Alliance along with the Union of Steel in 2146 CE._

 _In Wyoming, President Johnson declared Cheyenne the new capital of the United States and took over the Wyoming governor's mansion as the new Whitehouse. Though, due to both the large decrease in size and his increasing fear of assassination, he would spend the majority of his Presidency in the Cheyenne Mountain military bunker complex in neighbouring Colorado._

 _President Johnson's announcement that all federalised National Guard units were now the United States Military, and were to prepare for war to reclaim the states in rebellion against the Union, was the final nail in the coffin of the United States in any recognisable form. Over half the States of the Union were still loyal to the US government, but this had finally pushed them too far. Just like the western parts of the Soviet Union in 1989 CE, and Yugoslavia in the early 1990's CE, the federal government shattered the loyalty of the remaining States, chasing States that they had already lost._

 _Refusing to give up control of their National Guard's to a President who had driven 24 states out of the Union; Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Iowa seceded to form the Commonwealth of the Great Lakes. The Commonwealth immediately asked to join the defence pact that existed between the United States of New England and the Union of Steel. Happy to see more states return to civilian and lawful rune (USNE) and abandon President Johnson (Union of Steel) both agreed._

 _Like the United States of New England, the Commonwealth of the Great Lakes would spend the next two decades healing the wounds left by the patriot brigades and President Johnson. They would join the Systems Alliance along with their eastern and south eastern neighbours in 2146 CE._

 _Due to the internal movement of pro and anti-Alliance supporters when this whole crisis had begun, the 19 States that remained in President Johnson's United States of America all had heavy anti-Alliance majority's. But there was one final humiliation for the President to endure._

 _With the vast majority of the former US military now part of the Union of Steel, the only military forces remaining to the United States were the 19 remaining States National Guards. The States of the former Confederacy were larger and more populous than the States in the interior surrounding Wyoming, where President Johnson had set up the new United States government without consulting any of the remaining Governors._

 _As such these States National Guards were bigger than those closer to the new capital, an opportunity that lawmakers with an idolised view of the Confederacy were quick to exploit. Declaring that there was no intention to ever return to slavery, but that their States' rights were being trampled on by the orders coming from Cheyenne. The new Confederate politicians managed to sway a critical mass of the population behind their position, namely that the only way to respond to the tyrannical orders from Cheyenne was the way that their ancestors had in 1861 CE. South Carolina, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Missouri seceded from the USA and formed the New Confederate States of America._

 _The NCSA never did reinstitute slavery. It remains an isolationist state, refusing to engage with the Systems Alliance or its neighbours, the Union of Steel, The Republic of Texas or the Commonwealth of the Great Lakes._

 _The 9 remaining States; Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Kansas, Nebraska, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota were all that were left of the once powerful United States of America. President Johnson created a new Constitution, claiming that the 'treachery' of the legislative and judicial branches declaring his actions illegal and then impeaching him had given the States the excuse they needed to break away._

 _Renaming the government to the United States of Free America, the successor state to the USA has an executive branch with dictatorial level powers and no state National Guards. Though the judicial and legislative branches still exist, they are mere polite theatre to give the appearance of a check on the executive branches_ _power._

 _Seeing themselves as the sole legitimate rulers of the territory of the former United States of America, every President of the United States of Free America has sworn to_ _bring the other 41 states back into the USFA, and then take the fight to the Alliance. Fighting their way back to freedom in the stars. They have never achieved it._

 _The United States of Free America remains locked in an on/off war with the New Confederate States of America to this day. With the Nebraska/Kansas/Missouri border between the two nations a mess of minefields, wreckage and bombed out towns._

 _*A map showing this in more detail has been added to my tumblr. thefourthcouncilrace dot tumblr dot com._

* * *

 **An Intermission**

There have been so many reviews that I am completely overwhelmed and am unable to respond to them all individually, which I always try to do for my reviewers. So I have had to write this interlude, to try and address everyone's points together.

Hopefully this will be the only one that I have to write. I won't be responding to reviews of this chapter I am afraid, I just don't have the time, well not to do so and continue writing as well anyway. This will also be the last that I mention or respond to reviews on these subjects and the last time that I write one of these intermissions.

* * *

 **Was this Necessary?**

Yes. My story covers the formation of the Systems Alliance, something that canon condenses into 2 paragraphs. Other authors get around this by having an Alliance that you never see the formation of when their stories hit the First Contact War. Since I am sticking as close to canon as possible at the start, mine must change as it does in canon, transitioning from an Executive Council to a directly elected Parliament. I am not willing to use the copout of having it all happening offstage, it's very lazy writing and would rightly be called out by many reviewers.

The Demands of Canon – and the very little information it gives us – are thus.

It is stated that the nation states making up the Systems Alliance are deadlocked, squabbling, and unable to respond to the turian invasion of Shanxi due to disagreement over who should lead the response.

The Systems Alliance must suffer at the very least a fleet wide mutiny, or more likely a military coup as it is stated that Admiral Drescher takes the Alliance 2nd fleet to Shanxi to repel the turians against orders.

It is stated that the Systems Alliance uses the first contact war to go from being a council of nations to a directly elected parliamentary democracy. Only the Alliance is represented in space, though still sovereign in their own territory on Earth, Earth's nation states are irrelevant in interstellar affairs within 26 years of the First Contact War (the start of ME1)

In two paragraphs canon sets a hell of a challenge for any writer trying to actually show this process. Canon completely sidesteps it, but I find it really interesting which is why I wanted to write about it. The fact that any mentions of the Earth's nation states are relegated to obscure codex entries is very telling. If they were still important, or influenced Alliance policy to any significant degree, they would be far more prominent in the ME universe.

As they are not, they need to have their power removed by the Systems Alliance, and no nation gives up that sort of power easily. Which is probably why canon doesn't show it as its controversial, but that just makes it more fascinating for me to investigate and write about. I love figuring out how things work, so searching for a plausible way to make it happen was a lot of fun for me and a great boost to my writing motivation.

While I am not following canon's fate of the USA, canon does have it joining with Mexico and Canada to form the United North American States. Which promptly goes on to suffer a brutal Second American Civil war when secessionist forces rise up. So, even in canon, the USA in its current form is long gone and suffers a civil war.

The fact that canon relegates this to a single codex entry obtained in Katsumi's DLC, because it is so controversial, is why so many Mass Effect fans don't realise that that's the fate ME created for the USA. I've just gone the opposite way, using a civil war to split the USA into smaller nation states, rather than having it absorb its smaller neighbours then suffer a civil war.

* * *

 **How would you feel if someone did this to the UK?**

I'd feel fine. It all depends on how the author arranges history. If, in the authors historical world, Brexit was a success then the UK would absolutely have followed the USA out of the Alliance and would also have shattered into its component nation states.

Northern Ireland would have seceded and joined the Republic of Ireland and thus the Alliance (after a lot of bloody fighting between its Protestant and Catholic population), Scotland and Wales would have seceded with Scotland joining the Alliance and Wales not. England would have been left at war with itself, its pro and anti-Alliance factions tearing it apart until it reformed into 2 – 4 nation states, some Alliance members, some not.

If, in the authors historical world, Brexit was a total disaster, then Britain would not make the same mistake of leaving a multination union twice. Remembering the catastrophe of leaving the EU, Britain would stay with the Systems Alliance through thick and thin.

If the author did not match the historical data trend with the outcome, THAT is what would annoy me. Not any specific possible fate that might befall the UK in the future in the event that there are alien ruins on Mars and organic AI machines waiting to harvest us in darkspace.

* * *

 **Was mentioning Brexit necessary?**

Yes. As explained in more detail above, Brexit must be shown to have been a total disaster to justify Britain's decision to stay with the Systems Alliance, or a roaring success to justify leaving it. One of those two must be shown. As I am the author I picked total disaster for this universe. This kept the UK in the Alliance rather than having it leaving it with the USA.

One of the two interpretations had to be added to this story's post 2018 history. Not mentioning it, when it is so similar to the USA's actions of leaving a union of nations that establishes its own parliament, was not a viable option.

* * *

 **Singling out the USA and China**

Why do it? Is it necessary?

Yes, it is necessary. As stated earlier, canon tells us that the nation states that make up the Alliance deadlock in the First Contact War. The only possible nations with the economic, political and military power to cause this are the USA and China, acting in opposition to each other.

If they were not, then they would steamrole any other nation or group of nations trying to cause a deadlock. Canon requires them to be singled out and I am staying close to it in the early stages, snowballing small changes rather than immediately charging off with massive divergences leading to a barely recognisable ME1.

As they have been singled out, and a military coup has successfully beaten the turians and liberated Shanxi, they form the two sides of the political crisis. The remaining Alliance nations must pick a side. The Military, or the USA and China

* * *

 **Why have a military coup?**

Canon states that Admiral Drescher takes the Alliance 2nd fleet to liberate Shanxi against orders. While it is never stated whether this was a military coup or simply a fleetwide mutiny, the extra development time has drastically increased the Alliance fleet size in my story.

Admiral Drescher is leading the Grand Fleet of over 1,600 ships with a 4.4 million soldier strong army group (virtually the Alliance's entire ground forces) attached to it. A fleet wide mutiny is not an option, there are too many conflicting opinions and ideas in a force that size. A top down military coup keeping most of the fleet in the dark until its done is the only realistic option.

* * *

 **Straw Men**

Several reviewers have stated that I am using straw men.

This is their own fault.

We were supposed to see several of these anti-Alliance politicians and voters in more detail, over several chapters. Seeing their motivations, fears, hopes and desires for the future. Instead the whole multi chapter story arc was condensed into two codex entries due to their blizzard of rage reviews complaining that I wasn't creating a future exactly and precisely like the one they wanted.

Now all of that character development is missing they have the gall to claim that the characters for the fates of the USA and China are flat caricatures.

It's the best I could do with the limited word count of two the codex entries. If they wanted more complex characters, they should have STFU and watched as we saw more of them and how they believed they were doing the right thing, they all had development planned. But they fired off rage reviews instead, so they don't get to complain now. They brought this upon themselves.

* * *

 **You Hate Democracy**

I really do not hate democracy. I simply acknowledge its flaws. For just as Winston Churchill's quote tells us: "No one pretends that democracy is perfect, or all wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government, except all those other forms that have been tried."

Anyone who fights a general or local election campaign can only despair at the lack of political engagement. Low voter turnouts, refusal to fact check news that fits their world view, refusal to acknowledge the past of their chosen party, refusal to compromise, refusal of many to look beyond Facebook memes, the complete disregard of expert analysis and the growing belief that if the facts contradict your feelings, then the facts must be wrong. All of it is very hard to fight against.

People say some of my characters are caricatures, I assure you they are all based on people I have met while campaigning (I have stood for election 4 times). Some of whom hold public office. Comprehensive, accurate information on what the political parties stand for, have achieved, and are promising to do is the bedrock of democracy, and it's under attack from all sides.

The inclusion of Russia, manipulating the voters of the Alliance and the Alliance leaders not calling them out on it, condoning Russia's actions because it's vital to their majorities, is meant to show that the Systems Alliance leaders are just as bad as the leaders of the anti-Alliance faction in the USA.

As Admiral Drescher says, whether you are seen as a hero or a villain depends largely on whether you win or not, and even then, it's just a creation of perception. It was not meant to show that I am fine with anti-democratic activity as long as it benefits the people I like. Fairness cuts both ways, you can't take an advantage from another party – claiming it is unfair – and then turn around and give it to yourself.

* * *

 **Your 'Democracy' is really just a small group of people deciding what Must Be Done**

Uuuummmm….. you literally just described democracy.

A group of people – usually small – decides What Must Be Done. Then they go, along with all of the other small groups of people who have ideas, and try and persuade their fellow political party members that their small group's idea of What Must Be Done is the right one.

Once the party has decided which small group's idea of What Must Be Done is the best, they go and implement it (if they are in government) or go and convince the electorate (if they are in opposition.)

This is how democracy works. I could show the steps after the small group decides on What Must Be Done I suppose, the debates, the public rallies, the knife edge legislature votes, the horse-trading with other parties, the coalition building. The election results as seat after seat declares in the battle of the What Must Be Done ideas.

I think if I did that however, the rest of my readers would come and lynch you for slowing the story down so much! Just accept that that the small group you see making decisions is going to have days of work at a minimum convincing other people that it's a good enough plan of action to get it turned into reality. If their looking down the barrel of an election campaign, it could be years of work.

* * *

 **The US Constitution**

Did you expect more of your American readers to have actually read their Constitution? – Yes, seriously guys. It's not that long!

Did you expect people with rants about your use of the Constitution to at least google their rant first to see if it was true or not? – Yes. I thought this was a pre-requisite, it is truly amazing how many American readers have reviewed, ranting that the US Constitution says things that 20mins of research on google will tell you is complete bollocks. Here are five of my favourites.

The President cannot withdraw from international treaties or organisations without the consent of a supermajority of the Senate. – Yes, they can, and they have. See the actions of President's Trump, GW Bush and Carter. All of whom withdrew from international treaties without Senate approval.

In the case of President's GW Bush and Carter, cases claiming their withdrawal without Senate approval was unconstitutional, despite the Constitution only requiring ENTRY – not withdrawal – be ratified by a Senate supermajority, made it to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court declined to hear the case both times, claiming that it was a political matter, not a judicial one.

The President cannot ignore the Supreme Court declaring their actions unconstitutional. – It depends how you interpret the Constitution. The constitutional law argument of departmentalism looks into this in more detail, but in practice it depends how serious a crisis the President has on their hands as to if they can get away with it in the eyes of Congress and the US electorate.

President Lincoln is the only President to have got away with it so far, ignoring the Supreme Court declaring his suspension of habaes corpus in rebelling states unconstitutional in 1861. To be fair, a civil war is a pretty big crisis that justified ignoring the Supreme Court, but that doesn't mean he will be the last President to get away with ignoring the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court will stop the imprisonment of US Citizens without due process, Separation of Powers demands it. The Supreme Court avoided this the last time it featured in real world history when it refused to rule on whether the internment of Japanese Americans in WW2 without charge – or due process – beyond that they were of Japanese ancestry, was constitutional or not.

Separation of Powers does not check the power of the Executive branch when the Judicial branch deliberately looks the other way rather than applying the checks and balances that it supposed to.

Something has to be specifically in the Constitution for the President to have the power to do it. – This is the wrong way around, something has to be specifically mentioned in the Constitution for the President NOT to be able to do it, provided it does not violate the checks and balances (again) specifically mentioned in the Constitution.

See the constitutional arguments over the Louisiana purchase in 1803 for more details. (The fact that the Constitution is an enabling document confuses this a little, but the analysis of the Louisiana purchase constitutional powers debates is a really interesting source.)

Only Texas has the right to secede from the USA. – No state has the right to secede from the USA. The resolution of 1845 admitting the Republic of Texas to the United States of America as a state does give Texas the right to create 4 additional states out of its own territory, creating 5 states where there is currently only 1.

Though the creation of new states from the territory of existing ones is specifically forbidden without congressional approval by the Constitution, proponents argue that as the resolution admitting Texas passed both Houses of Congress with this cause intact it acts as congressional pre-approval. Meaning that technically Texas doesn't need Congress to approve it breaking up into 5 states if it wants to as Congress has done so already, in 1845.

Seriously guys. Google and reputable sources are your friends.

* * *

 **No nation state has more than tin can coastguard units in space**

Does the political crisis focus on the USA and China? – Yes, canon demands it.

Do the USA and China have to lose said political crisis? – Yes, canon demands it.

Is writing about the United States Space Navy going to add enough detail and emotion to your story to make up for the avalanche of hate filled reviews you're going to get when you have to write about its complete destruction at the hands of the Alliance Home Fleet when it tries to break the blockade? – No, not even close.

Would you rather deal with several smartass reviews saying it's ridiculous that no nation has significant military assets of their own in space? Or deal with that avalanche of (actually understandable) hate when you write about half of your readers home nations Space Fleet (USSN) being blown to bits because the plot dictates that if it exists, it has to lose. Causing heartbreak to any US military family readers? – I'll take the several smartass reviews and the tin cans please. Hopefully the Treaty of Mars codex entry in chapter 13 explains the plot way around it that I came up with sufficiently.

* * *

 **China is Acting Irrationally**

'The Foreign policy of the Peoples Republic of China is to use international mediating bodies to expand China's influence too the detriment of the USA and Russia. Staying in the Systems Alliance is in China's national interest.'

This is entirely true and maybe where several people are getting confused. Looking only skin deep, the above sentence does indeed make it look like China is acting irrationally by walking away from the new Systems Alliance.

Nations, however don't always act in their national interest. Source: All of history.

Often there are domestic complications that force a government to act against its country's national interests, because following them would violate too many of their country's internal red lines. (This is more common in democracies where the government has to answer to an electorate that may not know – or care – what the national interest is. Depending on the level of education, availability and freedom of information, political engagement and distortion of the national interest via vested interested lobbying present in the country.)

Multi-party democracy is the biggest and reddest of the Chinese Communist Party's Big Red Lines. They are able to use international mediating bodies to expand their influence due to the fact that those bodies do not require China to be democratic.

Membership of the new Systems Alliance requires the recognition of the Systems Alliance Parliament as the ruler of your nation state in the areas of interspecies diplomacy and warfare and interstellar colonisation and trade (at least, the constitution hasn't been finalised yet and may expand on those powers).

This would be bad enough for China, but they MIGHT have still been persuaded joining and using their influence to control the new Parliament was in their best interests, if not for the fact that it is a directly elected multi-party democratic parliament.

There is absolutely no way that the Chinse Communist Party will allow anything other than One Party rule in China. To do otherwise would shake the foundation of their form of government to its foundations.

It would be as if the USA suddenly decided to suspend all multi-party democratic elections and announced that the President would now be chosen by the leaders of their own party. Which is now the only party allowed, and agitation for democracy or membership of another party is a jailable criminal offence.

As you can see from the above scenario, given the scale of the change that China would be forced to make, there is no amount of national interest that would make the Chinese Communist Party agree to that.

So, China is acting entirely rationally and in character, provided you look below the surface of simple national interest and cross reference it with the culture, government and historical actions and data trends of China and its current rulers.

* * *

 **The Fate of China**

Did you have to make China descend into civil war? – Yes, canon demands that the USA/China faction loses and together the USA and China were far too strong to guarantee that would happen.

It's not realistic to expect China to descend into civil war, the Chinese Communist Party and Peoples Liberation Army's grip on power is too strong. – Countries are always too strong to descend into civil war, until they suddenly aren't, and the war begins. See the Arab Spring. despite the outcomes, no one would have said that those dictatorships could have been toppled without outside support, until they were. The dictators and their armies grip on power was too strong to shake, until suddenly it wasn't anymore.

Why have you shown the Nationalists and the Republic of China in such a good light? They were corrupt and hated. – So were the Communists, they were as bad as each other. While it's true at the start the Nationalists were little more than a massively corrupt military junta, today the Republic of China (Taiwan) is a fully functioning democracy with one of the best human rights records in Asia.

I thought it was an appropriate reward to have them take back the Chinese mainland rather than have China descend totally into warlord infested chaos.

Xinjang, Tibet and Outer Mongolia have been the subject of deliberate settlement of Han Chinese citizens to dilute the indigenous population and maintain their loyalty to Beijing. They'd never rebel. – Never underestimate an oppressed and occupied people's desire for freedom, especially if the chance that comes looks to be the last one they will ever get. However remote the likelihood of success is.

* * *

 **The Irrational Actions of the United States of America**

Well this is going to be a long one! So, I have subdivided it as well.

 **The Council Meeting**

Do the actions, facts and points outlined below mean that the American People, States, Congress and Cabinet will refuse to join the Systems Alliance, at least at the time of the council meeting where it is sprung on President Goldwater by Prime Minister Tharoor? – Yes

Can President Goldwater reasonably be expected to know that the American People, States, Congress and Cabinet will refuse to join this new version of the Systems Alliance? – Yes, he is their elected leader and has his finger on the pulse of the nation as he is in the middle of a re-election campaign. Even if he wasn't he would still know the opinion of the USA on such a sudden and divisive topic.

Will announcing America's refusal to join the USA immediately and publicly in that council chamber sway any of the nations that have not yet irreversibly chosen a side away from the Military/India/EU faction and towards the USA/China faction? – Possibly. It doesn't, but he can't be reasonably expected to know this at the time.

Taking all the above points into account is President Goldwater announcing America's withdrawal from the Systems Alliance and storming out of the meeting without consulting any other US government member justified? – Yes.

 **Joining the Systems Alliance, Even in its New Form is in the USA's National Interest.**

Is it? – Yes, it absolutely is. The influence that the USA can expect to wield is immense, as are the benefits it will continue to have access to as a member state.

Ok….. so WTF have you had them leave? – Often there are domestic complications that force a government to act against its country's national interests, because following them would violate to many of their country's internal red lines. (This is more common in democracies where the government has to answer to an electorate that may not know – or care – what the national interest is. Depending on the level of education, availability and freedom of information, political engagement and distortion of the national interest via vested interested lobbying in the country.)

It will take time for the pro-Alliance members of the USA to convince a supermajority of its citizens, and thus its elected representatives, that joining the Alliance in its new form is in the National Interest of the USA. The USA cannot be a member of the Alliance in the time it takes to convince them.

What historical, current and predicted data trends made you believe that the USA would have domestic red lines overriding its national interest and making Alliance entry impossible? – I'm glad you asked. Let's go through them.

 **Historical Data Trends.**

Historically American foreign policy has been to not be a member of any international organisation that they do not have total control over. Below are 3 examples.

The League of Nations. Designed and created by the US President Woodrow Wilson, the League of Nations was the hope of the world at the time. A brand-new way of doing things, to take the world peacefully into the future.

It was very much in the USA's national interest to be a member of the League, to use its newly acquired massive influence in the world to shape things to the advantage of America. Despite creating it and it being in their national interest to be a member, the USA refused to join. Not willing to subject itself to the judgement of other nations if it should lose a vote.

The United Nations. Designed and created by the US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the USA participates in the United Nations only on the proviso that it has Veto power to stop the UN from doing anything it doesn't like, let alone the UN doing anything to the USA itself. This damaged American influence, showing other nations that America believed itself to be better than them, weakening its soft power. Domestic red lines and political opinion demanded it.

When faced with the UN attempting to restrict its actions via not condoning the second invasion of Iraq (The USA and British vetoes made it impossible for the UN to actively condemn and demand a stop to it) the USA, Britain and others simply ignored the United Nations, burning through massive amounts of political capital, soft power, and influence. It was totally against America's national interest to bypass the United Nations in this way. But domestic political concerns demanded it, just as Britain's PM Tony Blair decided that supporting the USA no matter what was in Britain's national interest.

It most certainly was not, as the Lib Dem Leader Charles Kennedy pointed out at the time in Parliament. But he was ignored, again due to the domestic political situation. (This is not America bashing people, this is a look at foreign policy, and I've aired Britain's dirty laundry as well, so I can't be accused of bashing America and hiding my own nations faults.)

The international criminal court. The international Criminal Court was set up in 2002 and has 123 nation states as members. It was set up to make sure that those accused of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes had nowhere to hide. The ICC is meant to compliment rather than replace nation states courts, so it can only hear cases when a nation states courts are unwilling or unable to prosecute, or when national governments or the UN Security Council refers cases to the court.

The USA is the only Western country (and the only New World country with the exception of Cuba and Nicaragua) that refuses to recognise the jurisdiction of the court. Though it signed the treaty founding the ICC, the Senate never ratified the treaty and the signature was withdrawn due to the fear that an American might one day be in the dock.

This idea, that its fine for the ICC to judge other people's citizens but not theirs, drastically reduced America's moral authority and influence worldwide on the matters of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. The decision not to ratify the treaty and recognise the International Criminal Court was against America's national interest. But domestic political concerns demanded it.

*(India doesn't recognise the ICC either but, in my story, they are going for a naked power grab to take America's spot as the most powerful country in the world and leader of the Systems Alliance. Also, they're much more willing to engage in other international bodies)

Given the three historical examples of the USA's domestic red lines and political interests working against its national interests and refusal to submit to any authority other than their own, is the decision that they would not join an organisation with a directly elected parliament that would become the ruler of their nation state (outranking the Congress and the President in the areas of interspecies diplomacy and warfare and interstellar colonisation and trade) justified by American history? – Yes.

 **Is there no compromise that would allow the USA to join earlier?**

Yes, there is. Joining is massively in the USA's national interest. If they have a chance to join while maintaining control of the Systems Alliance they'll jump at it.

What is it? – Changing the nature of the Alliance Parliament, from one person, one vote, to one dollar one vote. Assigning seats in the parliament to each country based on the country's economic strength rather than its population.

That sounds very unequal. – It is, it's in direct contradiction to the idea that all people are created equal, and that all people should have an equal say in the system that decides the laws that they have to live by. Instead it sets a dollar value on votes, the more cash your country has, the more say you have in the laws that govern everybody.

Would the Americans go for it? – Yes, they already distort the one person, one vote system with the electoral college, taking votes from the larger states and giving them to smaller ones to meet its minimum 3 votes per state requirement. That makes 1 Vermont citizens vote for president worth the same as 3 Texan's votes and 1 Wyoming citizens worth the same as 4 Californian's votes.

This is why you can technically become president of the USA with only 22% of the popular vote by taking advantage of the electoral college's distortion and winning only the small states. As they're already used to this system, selling a system to the US electorate based on economic contribution rather than population should be relatively easy.

Would the biggest Alliance nations go for it?

India: No, on a population basis America would have only 24.4% of India's voting power. On an economic basis, India would have only 12% of America's voting power.

Russia: No, on a population basis Russia would have 44% of America's voting power, on an economic one, only 6.7%. Voters are also much easier to manipulate than markets.

The European Union: No. As a matter of established principle in the belief of equality. The European Parliament divides its seats via the population of its member states on the one person, one vote principle. There is no allowance or change made for the size of each member states economy in its assigned representation to the Parliament, despite the wildly different sizes of the EU member states economies.

So, would the compromise work? – No, the Americans would accept it, but the three biggest members of the Systems Alliance would never allow it to be offered. For reasons of principle or political advantage (history will, of course, say it was principle) the seats in the Alliance Parliament will be assigned to the member nations by population. One person, one, equal, vote.

* * *

 **The Fate of the United States of America**

 **Did you really need to break up the USA?**

No, but I wanted a dramatic explosion, an exciting end to America's time as the most powerful nation state in the world. Not it slinking back, tail between its legs, to the countries it had once led, then engaged in economic battle, and had then been defeated by.

The question shouldn't be did I need to do it, but rather: Did I make the events leading up to it plausible? Please bear in mind that canon also destroys the USA in its current form by having it join with Mexico and Canada to form the United North American States and then has the UNAS suffer a civil war.

 **Ok, did you make the events leading up to it plausible?**

Yes, again let's look at some data trends.

Is there a fair division of the US population between the pro and anti-alliance camps at the start? – Yes. 1/3rd for the Alliance, 1/3rd against, and 1/3rd undecided. Just like at the start of the American war of Independence.

Is it plausible that the USA would lose the economic war? – Yes, without China the USA has only $19.3 trillion GDP, Nominal and PPP. This is compared to the Alliance's ~$40 trillion GDP Nominal and ~53 trillion GDP PPP. With China, the economies of the two factions were evenly matched. Without it, the USA's economy is less than half of the Alliance's.

This is while using today's figures, figures that don't take into account 80+ years of development in the poorer Alliance member nations, or the off-world colonies. In short, without China the USA is woefully outmatched by the Alliance economy.

Is it plausible that an extremist like President Johnson would win the White House? – Yes, extremists, both left and right, are beating moderate, establishment candidates in primaries across America and around the world.

Is it plausible that the Executive Branch could become so powerful at the expense of the Legislative Branch? – Yes. The Congress is continuing to be almost constantly deadlocked, forcing the President to rule through executive degree. It happened to President Obama, now it is happening to President Trump.

The most shocking thing is that it is currently a Republican Congress frustrating the legislative agenda of a Republican President, this does not bode well for the future of Congressional/Presidential relations. The Pew Research Centre also found last year that 17% of Americans think that military rule would be a good idea and 22% favoured a strong President ruling "without interference from Congress or the Courts."

Even allowing for a significant margin of error those are worrying poll numbers, and they are likely to only be made worse by the constant Congressional - Congressional/Presidential deadlock. Extrapolating these trends forward 80+ years, it makes President Johnson being able to ignore the Congress impeaching him very plausible.

Is it plausible that the extreme anti-alliance faction would form the patriot brigades? – Yes, something very similar happened during the civil rights era of the USA with the KKK targeting and breaking up any pro-civil rights rallies they thought they could handle and/or avoid police action over.

The far right is on the rise across Europe and is beginning to show signs of rising in the USA. It is entirely plausible that this far right activity, aided by political polarisation, could lead to the creation of the patriot brigades. First targeting the far left, extreme pro-Alliance rallies, then branching out to combat any pro-Alliance activity at all.

Is it plausible that these confrontations between the far right and far left could become full on battles? – Yes, especially with the easy access to guns in America. It only takes one person to pull the trigger (or think someone else has) in the middle of a standoff to get everyone firing.

Is it plausible that these battles could spread and overwhelm the police? – Yes, once you start pitching one section of society against another, you'd be surprised how fast the hatred spreads. Source: The disintegration of Yugoslavia and Kosovo's declaration of independence from Serbia.

Is it plausible that the President could order the round up and incarceration of his political opponents – Yes, see most republic to dictatorship revolutions around the world.

Is it plausible that the military will obey the Commander in Chief over the Constitution – Yes, Constitutions are just ink on a page. They are only as strong as the faith and trust their populations put in them.

If the military believes that the Commander in Chief represents their views more than the Constitution does, they can ignore the Constitution and follow the President's orders. See most republic to dictatorship revolutions around the world.

Is it plausible that States might secede from the Union over this? – Yes, if the Constitution is in shreds, the Supreme Court irrelevant, the Congress neutered and the President dictator in all but name, then the Union is already dead. At this point the (story) US government is just a wolf wearing its skin.

Is it plausible that Hawaii and Alaska are the first to secede? – Yes, both are isolated from the continental USA and so are protected from reprisals until they can find protectors.

Is it plausible that Puerto Rico and the other territories would join the Kingdom of Hawaii? – Yes, what option would you choose? Stay with a republic turning into a dictatorship that has denied you a vote in the presidential elections since your incorporation? Or join a new constitutional monarchy made up of your fellow Americans that will offer you a voice?

Several people pointed out that they could have formed their own nation, but that would have required them actively planning it and then getting the Alliance to offer them protectorate status as well. Caught by surprise by Hawaii's secession, it would be easier and safer to join the Kingdom of Hawaii under the Alliance's protective umbrella than it would be to try and strike out on their own.

Is it plausible Texas would secede rather than round up its pro-Alliance citizens? – Yes. The extremists aside, most people know that even if they disagree with their neighbours their neighbours are fundamentally good people, only doing what they believe is right.

I think that the people of Texas would recognise this, follow the principles of the US Constitution of equality, freedom of belief and political expression and secede to sort out these differences peacefully and respectfully. Rather than round them up on the orders of a (story) dictatorial federal government that had abandoned all of the spirit and much of the letter of constitutional law.

Did you have to use Texas? - Yes, I needed a State that was large, wealthy, powerful and far from Washington DC so that it could plausibly stand up to an attack for a few days. So yes.

Couldn't you have used California? – Probably, but then my inbox would have been full of people calling me a libertard shillary fan making a thinly veiled call for Blue States to secede from Trump's 'Merica. So, Texas had to be the first State out of the door on the continental US, lest my laptop melt from all the hate in my inbox.

Do you really think the US military would mutiny? – After President Johnson violated the Constitution that badly, then turned them on their own home states? I thought I was pushing it having them remain loyal to him as long as I did.

That's ridiculous, the US military would mutiny before attacking their home states – Yes, they did. They were ordered to attack Texas but only the Airforce ever fired a shot. Before then they had simply been helping the police round up pro-alliance sympathisers. They mutinied as soon as they were turned on a whole state.

They wouldn't mutiny as a unit, they'd just return to their home states – Yes, they did, but over half come from the states that I assigned to the Union of Steel. So that's where they went back to and founded the Union of Steel to bring order from the chaos and the internment camps. Imposing military rule and curfews to try and start undoing the damage and all the hate that has been unleashed. Keeping people separate until they accept that their neighbours are not traitors and monsters simply for holding different opinions.

Did you have to create the United States of Free America and the New Confederate States of America? – Yes. Not all of the American successor states could join the Alliance, nor could they all be peaceful, happy, democratic non-members like the Republic of Texas.

So, I needed an opponent for the aggressive, dictatorial remnants of the (story) US government to fight that so that they wouldn't cause a war with the Systems Alliance by attacking them, no matter what the chances of victory. An isolationist New Confederacy was the perfect solution.

* * *

 **The End**

So as a quick summary: Canon demands the military coup, the singling out of the USA and China, the directly elected by one member one vote Alliance Parliament and Earth's nation states becoming irrelevant. It also justifies the destruction of the USA in its present form and the USA or its successor state suffering a civil war, because canon does both of those things to the USA.

Please remember I won't be responding individually to reviews of this intermission and this is the last I intend to say on these subjects. I won't be writing another one of these.

I hope this answered all of your questions. I also hope you continue to read, enjoy and review my story. Best wishes, Knight Vigilant Koren.


	15. Chapter 15

_Standard Disclaimer: I do not own mass effect, nor any other content that you recognise. Some characters and systems are original creations. I am receiving no money for my work._

* * *

 **Zodiac System – Zodiac Group**

 **2112.11.10**

* * *

The Grand Fleet of the Systems Alliance had almost completed its transit through the relay from Theta to Zodiac. It's forward raiding groups had ripped through the turian supply convoys and patrol groups that had been present in the dead system, and once it had been confirmed as secure the rest of the fleet had followed.

As soon as all ships had transitioned and formed up, the fleet would set out for the active primary relay. Leaving this no mans land for the system the turian computers designated the Lryae, primary system of the Lryae Asteria. Citadel Council claimed territory and the turian Third Patrol Fleets original patrol area.

Pushing into enemy territory was risky, it stretched the fleet supply train more with every system they advanced. It also left the Grand Fleet vulnerable to counter attack from an enemy with the home field advantage and left them unable to repair damaged ships quickly due to the long trip home. But it had benefits as well, a trans relay assault was the most perfect ambush scenario that a defending force could wish for.

The more relays the Grand Fleet had to fall back through before reaching a position they had to stand and defend, the more disproportionate casualties they could inflict on an attacking force if pushed onto the defensive.

Lryae also held the Lryae Asteria's primary relays, one primary relay connected to Zodiac – which they would be using to get there – but the other connected to the Serpent Nebula. Lryae's secondary relay also connected all over the Krogan DMZ, including to the Aralakh Cluster. The Citadel itself and Tuchanka, both were on the other side of the relays in the Lyre system. One of them was the primary goal of each of the two hail mary plans that the Admiralty had come up with for if the Citadel wouldn't negotiate a peaceful end to this war.

One thing was certain, in space the defensive held only certain defeat in this war for the Systems Alliance. The Alliance's total naval strength of approximately 3,000 warships was outnumbered by more than 3:1 by the turians alone.

With the turians active fleet strength standing at over 10,000 warships, not even counting reserves or the active warships the asari and salarians could bring to bear, any defence strategy the Alliance could devise was doomed to failure, and that was before the tech advantage of the Citadel races had been taken into account.

If the Citadel Council refused to negotiate, the Alliance's only chance was total and reckless aggression. Hoping to fight through to an important objective before the Council races could move their fleets from a peacetime patrol style deployment, to a wartime battle fleets style deployment and activate their fleet supply trains.

This had resulted in the two hail mary plans of the Admiralty. Both dictated that Lryae needed to be taken but from there they diverged.

Battle Plan Checkmate called for a direct assault on the Citadel, to overwhelm the Citadel Home Fleet before it could be reinforced to wartime strength and gamble that they could land enough marines before the Citadel arms closed to capture the Council tower. Hopefully, with their Councillors as hostages the Council races would agree to a cease fire. The Admiralty gave this plan only an 8% chance of success.

Battle Plan Viking called for an attack on Aralakh and the liberation of Tuchanka. Promising the Krogan anything that they wanted to join the war, including a cure to this 'genophage' bioweapon.

The Grand Fleet would then disperse into stateless raiding parties, destroying commercial shipping across Citadel space and delivering the Krogan to the ground to sow terror and blood across the colonies of the Council races. The Admiralty gave this plan only a 4% chance of success, predicting that even if it worked against the asari and salarians the turians would be so incensed that they wouldn't stop until they had totally subjugated Earth in revenge.

But as trying to fight defensively resulted in a 0.1% chance of success in all scenarios, the Grand Fleet had no option but to fight through to Lryae and pray that the asari were the peace-loving diplomats that the turian computers said they were. And that they had enough leverage over the Turian Hierarchy to force them to the table if they refused to negotiate.

Admiral Drescher looked despairingly at the galactic map rotating in front of her, to have the most powerful force assembled in human history, and still have only an 8% chance of winning through force of arms. It was a rude wakeup call as to exactly how much growing the Systems Alliance had to do if it wanted to be able to secure the future of humanity against any outside threat.

She looked up at the other occupant of her office to take her mind off the appalling military situation. Flag Lieutenant Stephen Hackett looked like he wanted to punch the tablet he was reading, Admiral Drescher could guess what section he was on.

"The latest updates of the Earth political situation Stephen?" She asked kindly.

"It doesn't bother you Admiral? That we are basically fighting for a group of traitors that have instigated a coup with the full support of the military?" The anger was clear in his voice.

Katrine Drescher smiled wearily. "It depends entirely on your definition of traitors doesn't it? I remember in history class another political group committing treason and violating all of international law, they seized control – backed by the military – and removed all of their opponents from political posts and confiscated all government owned property."

"So why aren't we stopping them? Like that historical coup was stopped?" Lieutenant Hackett growled out.

"Stopped? Who said it was stopped? If it had been stopped then George Washington and the other founding fathers of the USA would have been tried and convicted of treason, the breaking of all international law, seizing private property, casting loyalists out of political office and seizing the property of the legitimate government. They would all have been hanged and the United States of America would never have existed."

Stephen Hackett's mouth moved but no sound came out.

Katrine hid her amusement at the young lieutenant's excellent impression of a fish out of water. "The same is true of the founding fathers of the French Republic and dozens of other states. Radical changes rarely come peacefully Stephen, and whether their instigators are seen as traitors or heroes is largely determined by whether they win or not."

Indignation and despair warred on Lieutenant Hackett's face. "Which do you think they are?"

"Neither." Admiral Drescher said kindly. "Heroes are the creations of perception; the two sides of this coup represent different ideas and paths the world can take. The old way of competing nation states is represented by the USA and by China. The new way of humanity united under one federal superstate, each with their own cultures and states but also members of only one nation, is represented by the coup launched by India, the EU and the other members."

"Decide which route you want humanity to take and you will find your heroes, and your villains."

"ACTION STATIONS! ACTION STATIONS! SET CONDITION ONE THROUGHOUT THE SHIP! ACTION STATIONS! ACTION STATIONS! SET CONDITION ONE THROUGHOUT THE SHIP!"

Their discussion cut short, both officers were through the office door and into the Flag CIC as soon as the alert claxon had sounded.

"Report!" Admiral Drescher snapped out as she took her place at the central plot table and looked at the display of the system.

"Activity from the second primary relay Admiral, ships emerged and destroyed one of the scouts monitoring it, the _SSV Talikota_ was destroyed with all hands by that monster." Tactical reported angrily, the frustration at watching comrades die when they were too far away to help showing through.

"At least that makes the decision about whether to send the first contact package moot." Damage control muttered despairingly. As someone who knew all of the technical aspects of the Alliance's ships, they knew just how outmatched they were by the Citadel Fleet. And what the life expectantly of the Grand Fleet's crews had just dropped to.

Admiral Dresher kept her shock well hidden. The ship leading the new arrivals pouring through the relay was clearly an asari ship, the oval hole in the centre of its hull was unmistakable. The four spokes also marked it out as a dreadnought rather than the 2 spoke frigates or 3 spoke cruisers, but its size was like nothing any human had ever seen before.

The new ship was 4 kilometres tall which was its longest axis, over 4 times the size of her own dreadnoughts along their longest axis.

"I thought asari dreadnoughts were only 2 km high." Comms whispered in shock, awe and fear."

"Tactical: Analysis on its guns!" Admiral Drescher snapped. The asari ships had a strange design, they had a gun in each spoke, trading length and firepower for more guns that gave them a bigger field of fire. There was undoubtedly more to their battle doctrine, but the tech's hadn't cracked the most secure turian files yet, and there was nothing more but basic armament and profile of Citadel warships in the less secured files and turian troop's omitools.

They were working on supposition and extrapolation based only on profile and stated number of guns.

"The hollow oval makes up 500 m of the ships Hight. Based on extrapolation the port, starboard and ventral spokes are likely to contain mass accelerators 1.2 km long, estimated firepower of 87 kilotons. The dorsal spoke is significantly longer than the others, it looks like it's their main gun."

Tactical's voice shook at the idea that three 1.2 km long guns weren't the ships main armament before steading themselves and continuing. "Likely to contain a 2.2 km long mass accelerator, estimated firepower of 293 kilotons Admiral."

The CIC fell into stunned silence. The main gun of that monster superdreadnought could rip through the barriers of any ship in the Alliance fleet, it could one shot their own dreadnoughts and their own firepower of 44 kilotons looked paltry in comparison.

Hiding her own shock and fear, Admiral Drescher tried to instil some confidence back into her crew. "Well that is concerning, but unless I'm mistaken there is not a snowballs chance in hell of them hitting a frigate with those guns, and torpedoes are a great equaliser. Remember Pearl Harbour people. Sometimes the bigger they are, the harder they fall."

Calm fell over the flag CIC once more as the crew stood straighter, remembering the stories from their home nations when a small dedicated force had won against impossible odds. Admiral Drescher allowed their confidence to grow for a few moments, then she started issuing orders again.

"Comms: Alter the formation. Given the pathetic nature of their fighter tactics I want three quarters of our frigates in a spear, we're going to punch a hole and they are going charge through and Bismarck that bastard."

"Admiral." Sensors spoke up in confusion. "Their emergence, I didn't detect any weapons fire, nor did they fire on the other three frigates of the scout group."

"But they did destroy the _Talikota_?" The Admiral questioned intently.

"Aye Admiral, it exploded right next to them. No damage to the enemy ship from a collision."

"Then they have a weapon that we either can't detect firing, or can detect but don't know what to look for. Keep a close eye on them Sensors, it must be short range if they didn't use it on the other frigates, but we need to know what it is." Admrial Drescher nodded decisively, changing her plan off attack to stay out of close range of the asari ships. If they did mount such a weapon, she didn't want to lose any more ships to it.

"Aye aye Admiral." Sensors replied grimly, staring intently at their console.

As the three surviving scout frigates raced away from the growing Citadel Fleet, the last of the Alliance ships fell into formation. As one, their engines lit up and the Grand Fleet surged forward into battle once again, but this time victory was far from certain.

* * *

 _Codex Entry: Humans – Systems Alliance Marines: Ground Deployments_

 _(Citadel Codex, First Human SPECTRE Collector's Edition, 2183)_

* * *

 _ **Codex users please be aware that this structure is POST the major redesigns of Systems Alliance navy ships following the Relay 314 Incident (First Contact War) in 2112.**_ _For the pre-reform structure of the Systems Alliance marines please see appendix 6 subsection 4 of this codex._

 _The Systems Alliance Marines are a specialised force that exists to provide the ships of the navy with dedicated soldiers for shipboard security and boarding actions. Following the Relay 314 Incident (First Contact war) the responsibility of creating and securing a beachhead during planetary assaults was transferred from the army and given to the marines in addition to their shipboard duties._

 _As such the only truly unique marine role is the marine assault force, created following the Relay 314 Incident (First Contact War) for planetary invasions. The rest of the marine's units are focused around the Alliance navy and how many marines they designed their ships to carry. The marines us a squad (2 fireteams of 4 marines each) as the building block for their formations as that is the compliment of marines that the smallest ship they are ever assigned to, the navy frigate, carries as standard._

 _As a specialist force their officer/solider ratio is higher than that of the reformed post First Contact War army and the colonial guard._

 _ **Fireteams:**_ _Marine fireteams consist of 4 marines, all of them will hold the rank of private first class or above as marines do not use the rank of private due to their specialist training. Unless deployed on a navy ship fireteams are led by a lance corporal or a corporal._

 _If deployed on a navy ship or base, one fireteam will be commanded by a sergeant and the other by an officer._

 _ **Squads:**_ _Marine squads consist of 2 fireteams totalling 8 marines and are commanded by a sergeant unless they are on naval deployment._

 _A marine squad is issued with one Mako class Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV). 1 fireteam will operate the Mako (1 driver, 1 gunner, 1 ECM operator + engineer and one commander) while the second fireteam travels in the Mako's troop compartment awaiting deployment. Whether the CO (lieutenant or sergeant depending on deployment) commands the squad from the deployable leg fireteam, or as the IFV commander is at the discretion of the individual officer._

 _ **Platoon:**_ _A marine platoon consists of 3 squads (24 marines) and 3 Mako IFVs. It is commanded by a lieutenant._

 _ **Company:**_ _A marine company consists of 3 platoons (72 marines) and 9 Mako IFVs. It is commanded by a captain._

 _ **Cohort:**_ _A marine cohort consists of 3 marine companies (216 marines) and 27 Mako IFVs. It is commanded by a major. This is also the level at which specialised vehicles are attached instead of Mako IFVs. A cohort is commanded by a major._

 _If equipped with specialised vehicles, a cohort fields 36 specialised Megalodon support vehicles (self-propelled artillery, anti-air, tank destroyer, signals, mobile command vehicle, medical transport, etc…) or 54 Mosasaurus tanks._

 _ **Battalion:**_ _A marine battalion consist of 3 marine cohorts (648 marines). 2 cohorts will be equipped with Mako IFVs allowing the battalion to field 54. The third cohort will be a specialised attachment point, providing either 36 Megalodon support vehicles OR 54 Mosasaurus tanks to the battalion. A lieutenant colonel is the commanding officer._

 _ **Regiment:**_ _A marine regiment consists of 3 battalions (1,944 marines). 2 of those battalions are a standard marine battalions (x2 standard cohorts + x1 support cohort) while the third is an armoured marine battalion (x2 standard cohorts + x1 armoured cohort)._

 _As such the regiment is equipped with 162 Mako IFVs, 72 Megalodon support vehicles, and 54 Mosasaurus tanks._

 _ **Planetary Assault Brigade:**_ _A marine brigade consists of 2 regiments (3,888 marines) and is the compliment of a single marine assault ship, which is specifically designed to deliver a marine assault force to the surface of a hostile planet via dropships and Makos while providing air and orbital support. A brigadier general is the commanding officer._

 _Marine brigades are equipped with 324 Mako IFVs, 144 Megalodon support vehicles, and 108 Mosasaurus tanks._

 _ **Planetary Assault Division:**_ _A marine division consist of 4 brigades (15,552 marines) spread over 4 marine assault ships. A lieutenant general is the commanding officer._

 _Marine divisions are equipped with 1,296 Mako IFVs, 576 Megalodon support vehicles, and 432 Mosasaurus tanks._

 _ **Planetary Assault Corps:**_ _A marine corps consists of 4 marine divisions (62,208 marines) spread over 16 marine assault ships. It is the largest marine unit and the one with the task of taking and holding a beachhead on a hostile planet, allowing the army to deploy. The commanding officer is a captain general._

 _Marine corps are equipped with 5,184 Mako IFVs, 2,304 Megalodon support vehicles, and 1,728 Mosasaurus tanks._

* * *

 **Timeline Changes So Far**

 _First colony on mars: 27 years earlier than canon_

 _Discovery of Prothean ruins: 64 years earlier than canon_

 _Founding of the Systems Alliance (council of nations version): 63 years earlier than canon_

 _First Contact War: 45 years earlier than canon_


	16. Chapter 16

_Standard Disclaimer: I do not own mass effect, nor any other content that you recognise. Some characters and systems are original creations. I am receiving no money for my work._

* * *

 **Lryae System - Lryae Asteria**

 **2112.11.10**

* * *

Matriarch Benezia stood on the bridge next to Matriarch Lidanya as the Destiny Ascension approached the primary relay to the system the humans had designated Zodiac.

Asari parade formation demanded that the dreadnoughts and their Matriarchs led asari fleets from the front, with the rest of the ships following loyally behind as their disciples did on the ground, and this was the formation that the Citadel Fleet had adopted as it approached the relay. The Destiny Ascension leading, with the other ships following loyally behind.

"Can I object one more time to transiting the relay in parade formation Matriarch?" Matriarch Lidanya spoke up as the Ascension approached the point of no return.

"You can, but my decision has been made. I do not intend to get bogged down chasing the turian rearguard all over the Zodiac system. When they see the Destiny Ascension and realise that the Council Bannership has come for them, the size of the feet with us will be irrelevant and they will swiftly surrender. Then we can move on to dealing with these renegades actually attacking the humans."

Matriarch Benezia T'Soni had been appointed ambassador of the Citadel by the Council and had been placed in command of the mission to bring the turian renegades to heel. Though tactical command of the fleet remained with Matriarch Lidanya, it was Matriarch Benezia who decided where, when and how the fleet should move.

Matriarch Lidanya tried to keep her frustration under control. "I don't disagree Matriarch, but what if it is not just the turian rearguard waiting for us? What if they have recalled their main fleet from the human system to ambush us?"

"That would require that they know we are coming. No ships have gone through this relay since we left the Citadel and it is not connected to the comm buoy network, no, they will still be securing their hold on the human colonies in Theta." Matriarch Benezia stated confidently.

Matriarch Lidanya was less confident. Granted, no ships had gone through the relay to take the news that they had sailed out, but several had done so while the fleet was being marshalled. If the turians knew that they were coming, just not when, this relay transit could get very messy. At least she had got Benezia to agree that the fleet should transition at battle stations, just in case the worst happened.

"Relay transit in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1." Comms reported.

The Destiny Ascension emerged into Zodiac and an alarm immediately started screaming. Multiple members of the bridge crew looked franticly around in confusion and fear, it was an alarm so rarely heard that it even took Matriarch Lidanya a few moments to recognise it as the collision alarm.

"NO, YOU FOOLS!" the scream came from the maiden manning sensors before the Ascension shuddered, and then the collision alarm went silent.

"That didn't feel like something hit us. Sensors: Report!" Matriarch Lidanya barked out, glaring at Matriarch Benezia.

"It was a human frigate Matriarch." Sensors reported shakily. "There were four of them monitoring the relay. When it activated they moved in fast, obviously hoping to buzz the emerging fleet and get close in sensor readings on its capability's."

"They were expecting turians." Helm spoke up with growing horror as the realisation of what had happened began to sink in. "Turian ships are only a couple of hundred meters high, easy to avoid. They weren't expecting us."

Navigation shuddered at the thought of the sheer horror and panic that must have gripped the human fight crew in their final moments, when a 4km x 4km crucifix appeared in front of them. "Their turning circles would never have allowed them to avoid us by going left or right, the guns are too long to avoid us if they turned up. They went down, didn't they. They tried to thread the needle."

The entire bridge crew whispered a prayer for the crew of the human ship. Asari ships were not like those of the other races, all others – including these humans – built their ships so that their main guns faced forwards. Asari built theirs so that their main guns faced outwards, up, down, left and right for their dreadnoughts. Down, left and right for their cruisers, and left and right for their frigates.

This was possible due to the fact that asari ships had two drive cores, they would use one to FTL into the centre of an enemy fleet and use their main guns to engage up to 4 enemy vessels simultaneously while the enemy was left only able to respond with their broadside guns, their main guns left pointing uselessly at the empty space where the asari had been.

Then, when they had destroyed enough enemy ships, the asari ships would use the second drive core to FTL away while the first was still recharging. Then they would dump heat, recharge the barriers, discharge and recharge both drive cores and FTL back into battle again.

The challenge of this design, and the reason that no other race used it, was having two drive cores on the same ship. You could see the effect of interacting mass effect fields in the biotic combos asari commandoes used, like hitting a target under lift with a warp. The results were not pretty.

In space, with drive cores instead of commandoes, the results were far worse. The point where the two drive core's mass effect fields met and interacted was a chaotic maelstrom of dark energy and competing gravity fields, ripping anything there apart.

This was the reason for the oval hole in asari ships, no material could withstand that chaos, so the asari didn't try. They left the interaction point empty and built around it, leaving an oval shaped hole in all asari ships.

It was this hole, and the hurricane of dark energy and gravity at the centre of it, that the human frigate had dived into, attempting to avoid a collision.

"Were there any survivors?" Matriarch Benezia whispered quietly, staring at her hands in regret. She knew that the human frigate would have been able to avoid the cruiser and frigate scouting force that Matriarch Lidanya had wanted to send through first. It was her dogged instance on bringing the fleet through in parade formation that had caused those human's deaths.

"None Matriarch." Sensors reported sadly.

"What were they doing here? The crew of the Trafalgar said that they were the only human ship in the system." Matriarch Lidanya was confused and wanted answers right away. In a battle fleet, unknowns had a tendency to result in a lot of screaming, chaos and death.

"This would explain it Matriarch." Tactical reported as the rest of the fleet continued to pour through the relay behind them. She put the tactical display up on the main screen.

A huge human fleet getting underway in battle formation was suddenly on display to the entire bridge. At its centre was a turian ship, recognised by the sensors as _HWS Enforcer,_ with the symbol of the Systems Alliance painted hurriedly on the side.

"Well, that's unexpected." Matriarch Benezia deadpanned.

"They defeated the turians, they actually defeated the turians!" Damage Control whispered in a shocked and awed voice, saying what the entire bridge was thinking. Turian ships, patrols, even squadrons had been overwhelmed and destroyed of course. But a full turian fleet, even a patrol fleet, hadn't been defeated in open battle since the end of the Krogan Rebellions.

For these humans to have done so, and done so so thoroughly as to actually capture the turian bannership, it was a scenario that had never even crossed the minds of the Citadel Council or any asari in the fleet.

"Prepare for battle! Get the fleet to form up." Matriarch Lidanya called out resolutely, gripping the arms of her chair as she kept her disquiet at the sheer number of human ships carefully hidden.

"Matriarch!" Matriarch Benezia snapped. "We must at least attempt to talk to them, the fact that they have gone on the offensive does not mean they are irredeemably hostile. Indeed, it is a logical course of action if they believe themselves to be under attack from the entire Citadel Council."

"It's too late for talking Matriarch, the human Admiral is already committed to battle, she can't turn back now." Matriarch Lidanya replied regretfully before she noticed the confused look on Matriarch Benezia's face. A horrible thought began to dawn on her. "How much do you know about ship to ship combat Matriarch?" She probed gently.

"This is no time for ego protection Lidanya." Matriarch Benezia snapped out looking at the human fleet on the display. "I spent my maiden years as a very successful commando, but I was never in a space battle, assume I know nothing."

The bridge crew shifted awkwardly. Calling Matriarch Benezia's time as a commando 'very successful' was the same as calling the Destiny Ascension 'a bit bigger' than a normal asari dreadnought. True, but vastly understating things.

The Matriarch was one of the most formidable asari alive, on the battlefield as well as at the negotiating table. The realisation that she was virtually clueless as to know a space battle was fought was reassuring to some maidens on the bridge crew, and deeply worrying to others.

"Space has no drag Matriarch, when you accelerate you will keep going until you decelerate. Or until you hit something." Matriarch Lidanya spoke fast, trying to condense the required knowledge down into as few words as possible. "To change your direction, you have to use long – sweeping – curves. To stop, you have to do a long – slow – burn with your reversing engines or flip over and used your main engines if you want to stop faster.

The small reversing engines most ships have in their bows combine with the gravity wells the drive cores can create behind the ship to slow down, but they can counteract at most 10% of the main drives thrust. It takes a very long time for them to slow a ship to a stop, which is why most ships decelerate from the moment they leave the relay until they make orbit of their destination."

Matriarch Lidanya gestured at the screen trying to explain to her fellow Matriarch what she had seen in an instant, that battle was inevitable. "The human Admiral is burning hard, pulling high acceleration. She obviously wants to advance on our position quickly and hit us before we finish forming up. It's a good plan, but it means that she's already going too fast for her fleet's reversing engines to stop themselves before reaching us.

Her only option to come to a dead stop before reaching a range at which she has to engage us is to flip, that is use the manoeuvring thrusters to flip her ships end over end so they are flying backwards, and then fire their main drives to counteract their momentum and bring themselves to a dead stop."

"I take it that flipping and exposing your stern to the enemy is as bad in a space battle as turning your back is on the ground?" Matriarch Benezia questioned, studying the display intently.

"Worse." Matriarch Lidanya stated bluntly. "You can't have any significant rear facing weaponry because of the space requirements of your forward gun, your drive core, your reactors, the engines and their fuel, cooling systems, and your power distribution system, so you can't return fire. Meanwhile as the engine exhausts have to push out the gas that drives the ship, you can't armour them. So, any shots from your enemy's main guns have an armour free route into the ship, the engines also tend to be fairly volatile and if they're not then the drive core, which is at the end of that armour free route, certainly is."

"Even if, by some miracle, the drive core doesn't explode, the shells WILL blow your power distribution system to Athame, shutting down systems all over the ship including the kinetic barriers, the guardian arrays and the guns. You could probably still launch torpedoes, but only if you were willing to shove them manually out of the tubes. Even if you manage to avoid all of this, your engines are still exposed, and any hits will cripple your ability to manoeuvre properly, and if your unable to manoeuvre then your just target practice for enemy gunners."

"So deliberately exposing your stern is not just risky, its suicide." Matriarch Benezia summed up bluntly.

"It's why no one transits a relay backwards. Going through forwards at high speed, your stern is only exposed to ambushing forces for a short amount of time before you can manoeuvre out of the way. Going through backwards on your reversing engines? You might hide your stern from the enemy if they're in the traditional ambush position. But if they aren't, if they've guessed what you're doing and placed even a part of their fleet in a position to fire on your sterns upon relay emergence? You've just killed your entire fleet." Matriarch Lidanya was equally blunt and to the point.

"The human Admiral can't just not engage?" Matriarch Benezia asked hopefully.

"If they continue on their current course, they'll blow right through our fleet. Even if we get out of the way, the human ships will still be exposed to our main guns while their own are pointed at empty space. That's not a chance you give to an unknown force, even if you don't really want to fight. We have to engage Matriarch." Matriarch Lidanya's voice was regretful but firm.

The tactical display didn't lie, the human ships were still accelerating. Racing to catch the asari out for formation and give themselves a shot at victory by engaging the Citadel Fleet one chunk at a time. There was nothing the asari could do to avoid the battle now.

* * *

 _Codex Entry: Humans – Systems Alliance Marines: Naval Deployments_

 _(Citadel Codex, First Human SPECTRE Collector's Edition, 2183)_

* * *

 _Due to the limitations of available space on the navy's warships, several marine officers command more or less marines than they are supposed when on naval deployment. This is accepted in order to ensure that every naval ship has a marine officer aboard to represent the marine's interests and opinions to the naval officers._

 _ **Frigate Compliment:**_ _Marine squads consist of 2 fireteams totalling 8 marines and 1 Mako IFV._

 _A squad is the smallest unit placed on naval deployment. Even though they would normally only be commanded by a sergeant, when on naval deployment a squad is commanded by a lieutenant so that every ship has a marine officer aboard to represent them to the naval officers._

 _ **Cruiser Compliment:**_ _Cruisers have a compliment of 5 marine squads (40 marines) and 4 Mako IFVs. This unit also garrisons small naval and logistics bases. The commanding officer is a Captain to ensure adequate seniority when interacting with naval officers._

 _ **Heavy Cruiser and Escort Carrier Compliment:**_ _Heavy cruisers and escort carriers have the same marine compliments as cruisers. The additional space that comes with their increased size is all dedicated either to strike craft or fleet command facilities and additional weapons._

 _ ****ERROR SHIP CLASS NOT FOUND****_ _ **Dreadnought and Fleet Carrier Compliments:**_ _Dreadnoughts and fleet carriers have a compliment of These marine units consist of 25 marine squads (200 marines) and 20 Mako IFVs. This unit also garrisons repair yards and standard naval and logistics bases. The commanding officer is a major to ensure proper seniority when interacting with naval officers._

 _ **Large Fixed Installation Compliment:**_ _A major's command is expanded to 50 squads (400 marines) to garrison shipyards and large naval and logistics bases. As they are on space stations these garrisons are not issued with Mako IFVs._

 _ **Detachment Compliment:**_ _A full strength cruiser detachment has a compliment of 98 squads (784 marines) and 80 Mako IFVs. These units also garrison the largest shipyards and naval bases. The commanding officer is a lieutenant colonel._

 _ **Squadron Compliment:**_ _A cruiser squadron has a compliment of 232 squads (1,856 marines) and 188 Mako IFVs. They commanding officer is a colonel._

 _ **Strike Group Compliment:**_ _A strike group has a compliment of 476 squads (3,808 marines) and 388 Mako IFVs. The commanding officer of the marine compliment is a brigadier general._

 _ **Fleet Compliment:**_ _A Systems Alliance fleet has a compliment of 5,377 squads (43,016 marines) and 4,364 Mako IFVs. The commanding officer of the marine compliment is a captain general._

* * *

 **Timeline Changes So Far**

 _First colony on mars: 27 years earlier than canon_

 _Discovery of Prothean ruins: 64 years earlier than canon_

 _Founding of the Systems Alliance (council of nations version): 63 years earlier than canon_

 _First Contact War: 45 years earlier than canon_


	17. Chapter 17

_Standard disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect, nor any other content that you recognise. Some characters and systems are original creations. I am receiving no money for my work._

* * *

 **Zodiac System – Zodiac Group**

 **2112.11.10**

* * *

The bridge crew of the Destiny Ascension looked up in shock as rather than giving Matriarch Lidanya permission to engage, Martriarch Benezia swept towards the Helm and Nav positions to get a better view of the main tactical plot.

"10% is the maximum amount of the main drives thrust that the reversing engines can counteract?" Matriarch Benezia asked quickly.

Matriarch Lidanya nodded cautiously in conformation, getting the feeling that she wasn't going to like where her fellow Matriarch was going with this.

"Then you may commence battle manoeuvring at 10% of maximum thrust Matriarch." Matriarch Benezia stated distractedly as she searched the tactical plot for some solution to their plight.

"Matriarch!" Matriarch Lidanya's voice was filled with horror. "We can't manoeuvre properly on 10% thrust! We can't fight a battle like that!"

"We're not fighting a battle Matriarch, we are just making sure that we are not target practice for the human guns. I refuse to believe that our only option is to compound the turian error." Matriarch Benezia's voice was determined, she wasn't giving up on a peaceful solution until the first round was fired.

"Admiral Raeka is challenging the thrust limitations Matriarch." Comms called out uncertainly

"Tell him and the rest of the salarians to deal with it and follow orders. And get the _SSV Trafalgar_ on the line." Matriarch Benezia stated decisively, staring down Matriarch Lidanya. The other Matriarch looked like she wanted to argue, but the slight movement in the shadowed recesses of the bridge put an end to that defiance. Glancing at the floor rather than face the figure in the shadows, Matriarch Lidanya backed down.

Seeing the acquiescence of Matriarch Lidanya, the comms officer nodded and changed Trafalgar's link to the Citadel Fleets banner officer network from listen only to two way.

"Matriarch Benezia, this is Captain Bordey. We have monitored the situation." The confident tones of the first human captain to encounter the asari reverberated around the deathly silent bridge of the Council bannership.

"Do you think you can convince the human Admiral to stand down Captain? I don't want this to turn into an all-out war." Matriarch Benezia asked calmly.

"It's a big ask in these tactical circumstances, even without a destroyed frigate in the mix muddying the waters." The human Captain replied honestly. "But we will see what we can do."

The entire Citadel Fleet held their collective breath as _SSV Trafalgar_ broadcast in the clear at the rapidly closing human fleet.

" _This is Captain Edouard Bordey of the SSV Trafalgar calling Admiral Katrine Drescher. Admiral, I can see the Cotopaxi on my sensors so I'm hoping you're with that fleet. I am transmitting our clearance and authentication codes now."_

"What is he doing? Why can't we understand him?" Matriarch Lidanya burst out, almost panicking.

"He's not using the human language known as English Matriarch, it's the only one we have translation software for and has been shared via melding with Lieutenant Walailak." Comms reported.

"Benezia! Aren't you going to stop him? He could be making this situation a thousand times worse!"

"How exactly could he make this situation worse Matriarch?" Matriarch Benezia replied calmly. "We're already sailing into a battle we don't want. Captain Bordey has probably chosen this language as an additional proof of independence to the human Admiral, she must know that we are likely to only have translation software for English. I think we can extend the good Captain a little trust in these matters."

"Or enough rope to hang himself and his species with." The shadowed figure in the corner of the bridge muttered, speaking for the first time since entering the bridge.

" _Well at least I know your not a computer programme. Even if the asari have developed a translation programme for French as well, they couldn't recreate that god-awful Québécois accent. Report sailor."_ Admiral Katrine Drescher's clipped, Parisian accent was noticeable even to those that had no idea what was being said.

" _Admiral, SSV Trafalgar engaged in commerce raiding against the turian forces until being lured into a trap and boarded by the asari 17 days ago. We were then non-violently interrogated for information as to the situation in Zodiac and Theta."_

" _Do you have enemy forces aboard now?"_

" _Negative, we are in complete control of the Trafalgar. Vicksburg, salutation, gravity."_

" _You know full well that the not under duress passwords are invalid after more than 48hrs of being boarded by enemy forces Captain."_

" _Acknowledged Admiral, all the same we are not under duress. We are with the Citadel Fleet of our own free will and at their non-compulsory invitation."_

" _Say your piece Captain Bordey. I'm not saying I believe that you're not under duress, but you deserve to be heard out."_

" _Admiral, the turian fleet attacking Theta was acting against the orders of the Citadel Council, from the fact you recognised half of this fleet as asari and have captured a turian dreadnought I'm guessing you know about it. The Council is livid, as soon as they found out what the rogue turians had done they gathered and dispatched this fleet, deliberately consisting of only asari and salarian ships, under the command of one of their most experienced ambassadors."_

" _Their orders are to halt the actions of the renegade turian fleet, arrest and detain its command staff, and blow them all out of the stars if they refuse to comply. From the looks of things, you've beaten them to it."_

" _And their plans for us?"_ Admiral Drescher's voice was granite hard.

" _The Citadel ambassador has orders to open diplomatic communications with humanity, they were expecting to have the proof of defeating the renegade turian fleet to offer as their good intentions. The size and power of this fleet was to be turned against them, not against the Systems Alliance."_

" _Why then did they destroy one of my ships? SSV Talikota was destroyed without reason or warning."_

" _The Talikota was effectively destroyed by a collision Admiral. Their only option to avoid collision was to dive into the oval in the asari flagship. Asari ships have two drive cores, I'm sure your chief engineer can tell you what happens when two drive cores interact, and they do so in the centre of the oval on asari ships, it's the reason for its existence. Talikota was ripped apart by the dark energy and gravity maelstrom, it was neither a deliberate nor hostile act by the asari."_

There was silence across the comms frequencies for several minutes.

" _Admiral, I know I am asking a lot, but please, the asari don't want to fight us. If we can find the courage to trust them on that then this war can be over, today. If not, thousands more are going to die. I know you can't be sure of anything I'm saying, so I'll use a code phrase that no handler would allow through. Firefly, the definition of interesting: oh god oh god, we're all going to die."_

There was silence across the bridge of the Destiny Ascension as the humans conversed in the unknown language. When the comms frequencies fell silent for a second time all of the asari held their breath, waiting for something – anything – to indicate if the human Captain's plea had been successful. Hardly daring to hope that they wouldn't have to fight today.

"Course change!" Sensors called out suddenly. "Human fleet is diverging, spitting into thirds. Two are going high at diverging angles, one low but maintaining approach."

"They're moving to bracket us." Matriarch Lidanya said sadly, she had hoped that Matriarch Benezia's last ditch appeal would avoid battle, but it seemed it was not to be. "Those positions will put them up, ahead and to the right; up, ahead and to the left and below and ahead of us. They'll all have clear firing arcs for their main guns while being out of the line of fire for all of the main guns of our fleet, asari or salarian."

"Not yet." Matriarch Benezia stood routed to the spot, answering Matriarch Lidanya's request before she had even made it.

"Matriarch, the enemy fleet is engaged in aggressive battle manoeuvres and is approaching at high speed. You MUST give us the ability to manoeuvre properly!" Matriarch Lidanya was almost speechless with shock, to leave them sitting ducks for the human fleets gunners on the vague hope that they might not fire, it was insane.

"Not Yet." Matriarch Benezia was resolute.

"Matriarch! This could result in the destruction of the entire fleet despite our numerical and firepower advantage!" Matriarch Lidanya tried again, desperately trying to make Matriarch Benezia see that she was going to get many fine asari and salarian sailors killed if she continued to cripple the fleets ability to manoeuvre.

"I said Not Yet Lidanya!" Matriarch Benezia raised her voice for the first time since coming aboard. The bridge fell to total silence as the crew observed the battle of wills between the two Matriarchs.

"Benezia." The shadowed figure said only one word, but it was enough. Matriarch Benezia's shoulders slumped as she admitted defeat; and prepared herself to watch a bloodbath.

The defeated Matriarch whispered her acquiescence. "Very well Matriarch Lidanya, you are…"

"COURSE CHANGE!" Sensors practically screamed announcement brought the tension back to the bridge full force.

"New destination?" Matriarch Lidanya snapped out, never taking her eyes off Benezia, if the dam woman went back on her decision to let her engage properly now then she was going to throw a warp at her face. Council ambassador and renowned commando or not!

"None, Matriarch." Tactical whispered in awe, as if she couldn't believe what she was seeing. "They're flipping, the human ships! They're all flipping!"

Stunned silence fell.

"Confirm." Matriarch Lidanya whispered, hardly daring to hope.

"Confirmed Matriarch, the course change has protected their engines from direct shots. We can only hit their sterns with glancing blows on their new courses, but they have all flipped and are burning at full power on their main drives. They will reach 0/10 intercept in 20 minutes at current speed." Tactical replied swallowing nervously and awaiting orders.

"Will they still be bracketing us at that intercept?" Matriarch Lidanya queried curiously.

"Yes Matriarch. Their overall course remains unchanged, they will be able to fire on us from three directions and will be out of the firing arcs of all main guns of the fleet." Tactical confirmed the Matriarch's suspicions.

"Your move." Matriarch Benezia stated confidently, energy flooding back into her. "This is a negotiation with ships, not words Lidanya. The human Admiral has exposed her sterns to us, she wants something in return."

"An advantageous firing position if we turn out to be lying." Matriarch Lidanya nodded respectfully at the screen showing the human fleets movements. "She's showing weakness to us, so we have to show weakness to her. Otherwise she's going to flip her ships again."

Matriarch Benezia turned, but before she could speak Matriarch Lidanya spoke again.

"Helm: Fleetwide order: Cut main drives and engage reversing engines. We are going for a 0/0 intercept with the human fleet. All ships are to maintain current orientation, no main guns are to be pointed at the human fleet of I'll throw the offending captain out the airlock myself."

Matriarch Lidanya looked up at the slightly surprised Matriarch Benezia. "I don't want a shooting war either Matriarch, and an Admiral that dares to expose her sterns like that? Well she has a quad alright, and I'm willing to see what she has to say."

Matriarch Benezia nodded respectfully to her counterpart while staring at the human ship marked _SSV Cotopaxi_. The turian fleet had been defeated by these humans and that made these negotiations the most important first contact since the one with the turians themselves. Matriarch Benezia felt an excitement she hadn't felt since her maiden years as the human flagship slowly grew larger on the screen, it was the excitement of the unknown.

* * *

 _Codex Entry: Humans – Special Forces_

 _(Citadel Codex, First Human SPECTRE Collector's Edition, 2183)_

* * *

 _Systems Alliance special forces come in two types, the navy special forces, and the army special forces. More highly trained than even the marines, these are the truly exceptional sailors and soldiers of the Alliance. The highest rank, N7/A7 is the Alliance's answer to the SPECTREs._

 _The designator N or A is used to denote whether the sailor / soldier is a member of the navy or army special forces, while the number is used to denote their skill level with 7 being the highest._

 _The special forces have an interesting relationship with the military ranks system and do not use non-com ranks higher than chief petty officer / sergeant, nor officer ranks higher than captain / colonel. They are far to skilled to leave the field and place in a flag officers' role._

 _To advance passed these limits, N sailors must transfer back to the navy and enlist in the N forces training programme as an instructor. The same is true for the army._

 _ **N1:**_ _Those who complete the first round of training are given the designation N1 and are granted the rank of sailor first class. They are then sent for additional training. The instructors will keep an eye out for promising talent and recommend their promotion to leading hand._

 _The same is true of the army A forces with the relevant ranks being private first class and lance corporal._

 _ **N2:**_ _To advance to the rank of N2, N1s must specialise. The most common specialisations are sniper, tech, demolition and medic. Unlike in the main military branches, specialisation alone is not enough to increase rank from sailor first class. Increasing an N force grade is seen as reward enough._

 _The instructors will keep an eye out for promising talent and recommend their promotion to petty officer._

 _The same is true of the army A forces with the relevant rank being corporal._

 _ **N3:**_ _To advance to the rank of N3, N2s must learn a second specialisation. As an N forces squad will never exceed 8 soldiers, and will often only contain 4, this dual specialisation is required to ensure the fireteams and squads have all of the skills needed to complete their missions._

 _Unlike in the main branches, specialisation alone is not enough to increase rank from sailor first class. Increasing N force grade is seen as reward enough. The instructors will keep an eye out for promising talent and recommend their promotion to chief petty officer The highest non-com rank special forces can hold._

 _The same is true of the army A forces with the relevant rank being sergeant._

 _ **N4:**_ _To advance to the rank of N4, N3's must specialise in a shipboard operation, usually engineering, environmental or piloting, to enable them to assist in the running of their insertion vessels. Keeping the number of people who need to know about their missions to the absolute minimum possible._

 _Once this has been accomplished, they will be deployed. A single fireteam of 4 N4s is assigned per cruiser detachment / squadron. The instructors will keep an eye out for promising talent and recommend their promotion to ensign._

 _The same is true of the army A forces with the relevant rank being 2_ _nd_ _lieutenant._

 _ **N5:**_ _N5s are individual N forces sailors that have shown particular skill at both lone working and defensive tactics. They are assigned the rank of lieutenant and are placed in command of the protection detail of VIP targets such as the Prime Minister, the Alliance's Citadel ambassador, the Space Lords and the Sky Marshals._

 _The same is true of the A forces deployed in the army with the relevant rank also being lieutenant._

 _ **N6:**_ _N6's are N4's who have caught the attention of their superiors and have been recommended for the final and most intense N forces training available. They are assigned to the Alliance fleets and strike groups in squads of 8 upon completion of their training._

 _The instructors will keep an eye out for promising talent and recommend their promotion to lieutenant commander._

 _The same is true of the A forces deployed in the army with the relevant rank also being lieutenant colonel._

 _ **N7:**_ _N7's are N6's who have shown the ability to work alone, either without the need of a dedicated N force fireteam, or with support from standard personnel found near their objective._

 _To enable the maximum use of this lone working ability, all N7's are granted the rank of lieutenant and are placed in the executive officers slot on navy frigates._

 _There they are to learn how to command a navy warship, so that upon completion of that training, they may command their own insertion ships. This drastically improves information compartmentalisation on the ultra-sensitive missions they are deployed on._

 _Upon being signed off as capable of commanding a navy warship, the N7 is promoted to lieutenant commander and is placed under the direct authority of the Second Space Lord at fleet headquarters._

 _Accomplishments on the battlefield and the successful completion of missions can see the N7 promoted to commander, the most commonly held N7 rank, or even more rarely to captain. The highest officer rank an N force sailor can hold._

 _N7 captain's often mentor newly graduated lieutenant commanders that they believe hold particular promise, a certain spark of undefinable ability that the captain believes makes the N7 capable of passing the commander rank celling to become one of the handful of N7 captains themselves._

 _The most famous N7's are the newly appointed SPECTRE, Lieutenant Commander John Shepard, and his mentor; Captain David Anderson._

* * *

 **Timeline Changes So Far**

 _First colony on mars: 27 years earlier than canon_

 _Discovery of Prothean ruins: 64 years earlier than canon_

 _Founding of the Systems Alliance (council of nations version): 63 years earlier than canon_

 _First Contact War: 45 years earlier than canon_


	18. Chapter 18

_Standard disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect, nor any other content that you recognise. Some characters and systems are original creations. I am receiving no money for my work._

* * *

 **Zodiac System – Zodiac Group**

 **2112.11.10**

* * *

The asari shuttle cruised gracefully through space as it departed the _Asari Republics Huntress Destiny Ascension._ Four salarian frigates fell into escort formation around it as it cleared the Council bannership and flew towards the human flagship, led by the battered _SSV Trafalgar._

What the humans didn't know was that the cruiser filling the last slot of the escort formation, the _ARH Cybaen,_ was unique among the asari fleet. A mix up in the cruisers construction had resulted in it having unusually large drive cores installed. Rather than rip out and replace the cores, the shipyard had made the call to simply redesigned the cruiser around them. Which meant that despite it having a cruisers size and firepower, the _ARH Cybaen_ had dreadnought strength barriers and a flank speed that nearly equalled an asari frigates.

If the humans were duplicitous and opened fire, then the shuttle could quickly retreat behind Cybaen's barriers and the cruiser had both the barrier strength and the speed to escape a trap that would annihilate a normal cruiser. It would be a rude awakening for any human ambush force.

None of this was making the head of security for Matriarch Benezia feel any better. Ripped from the shadowy recesses of the Destiny Ascension's bridge by Matriarch Benezia's decision to hold first contact aboard the human flagship, Matriarch Aethyta T'Soni sat glowering at her bondmate as both the commando squads, and the ambassadorial aides that were crammed into the shuttle as well, tried to focus on anything other than the two squabbling matriarchs.

"I still can't believe you're doing this." Matriarch Aethyta muttered as the shuttle passed the half way point between the fleets. "Even with the Cybaen flying escort it's a hell of a risk, a risk we don't need to take 'Nezzie. They've captured a turian dreadnought for Athame's sake, they have to know how large and powerful the Republics are. We could have just demanded that they meet us on the Ascension, where I could keep you safe."

"There it is again." Matriarch Benezia snarked. "That smug confidence in asari superiority. I know that the asari are stuck in the past 'Thyta, but even here, at first contact, you still can't grasp that the way forward is to make alliances. Full and equal alliances, not to fold in upon ourselves and make everyone bow to us. We need to have a greater role in shaping galactic events, but we can only do that by talking to everyone, convincing them that our way is the best way. Not by extracting compliance with the threat of our military."

"I can't believe you're doing this now." Matriarch Aethyta's voice hardened with anger. "We're flying into a potentially hostile situation, with little chance of escape if things go to hell once we've docked, and you still want to paint me as some kind of warmonger. Being practically independent of all the other races, able to stand on our own without having to resort to turian muscle or salarian spies, isn't making others bow Benezia! Its recognising that we can't go a single asari lifetime without a major war breaking out! And that our reliance on allies, or cat's paws as some on the Council of Matriarch's see them, is leaving us very vulnerable if everything goes to hell."

"Of course, that's why you want to force a new race to meet us on the bannership. A race that's scared and confused, attacked by the very peacekeepers that are supposed to stop this from happening! Of course they should be forced to recognise asari superiority by prostrating themselves under the threat of the bannership's guns before we will even deign to talk to them. That sounds perfectly reasonable." The sarcasm dripping from Matriarch Benezia's voice made Matriarch Aethyta rear back, surprised and hurt.

"I'm trying to keep you safe Benezia! Though goddess only knows why at the moment! Have you thought of Liara at all? She's only 35. Forget the humans, how scared and confused do you think she's going to be if her mother doesn't come home?" Matriarch Aethyta hissed.

"That was low, even for you." Matriarch Benezia kept her voice down, but anger still coursed through it. "I always think of Liara, I want her to grow up safe - in a galaxy of friends - not of races hiding behind their borders staring suspiciously at each other. Just waiting for a chance to go to war."

"Being prepared doesn't mean beating the crap out of each other, and that's another thing, your stifling her. She's already headstrong at the age most kids are still clinging to their parent's skirts. Your treating her like a baby bird, well I've got news for you 'Nezzie, she's going to raise one hell of a storm with those little wings." Matriarch Aethyta stated with absolute conviction. She may not yet know what their daughter's future held, but she was certain that it was going to be spectacular.

"Oh, so we're on to parenting skills now? Wonderful."

"Well when else do I have your attention anymore? It's not like you listen to me at home. You haven't for years."

"There's a reason for that, all we do is fight."

"Because you won't listen."

"No, because you won't abandon this insane crusade. Wasn't getting laughed off the Council of Matriarchs enough for you?"

"Thank you so much for reminding me of that! I'm just surprised you didn't throw me out of the house as well. Goddess only knows we wouldn't want to stain your immaculate reputation with those old crones now would we."

"Right now, I wish I had thrown you out!"

Total silence fell across the shuttle's passenger compartment, the only sound was the engines pushing them towards the human fleet. Matriarch Benezia looked shocked at her own words, but Matriarch Aethyta just looked sad and resigned as she stared at her bondmate. "I'll start packing when we get back to Thessia."

"'Thyta, that wasn't…. I didn't mean…." Matriarch Benezia stammered incoherently, the exact opposite of the calm and composed ambassador and matriarch she was at almost all times.

"What is it you always say about making difficult opponents angry in negotiations 'Nezzie? It's helpful because it's revealing, an angry person's words are a calm person's thoughts." Matriarch Aethyta smiled sadly at the person she had spent the last hundred years with. "It's over Benezia. It's been over for years, we've just avoided actually ending it."

"Matriarchs." One of the commandoes spoke up, despite looking like she would have preferred to poke a thresher maw with a stick. "We're about to dock."

"We'll finish this conversation when we get home." Matriarch Benezia said, dropping into a light meditation and centring herself for the negotiations ahead.

"What's left to say?" Matriarch Aethyta whispered, heartbrokenly, before turning to her commandoes and barking out orders. "Alright ladies, form up. I want you primed to throw barriers and warps at the first sign of trouble, but don't fire unless fired upon. If they do turn out to be treacherous it's barriers to protect the Matriarch, warps to clear enemy troops, and if we've left the docking bay…"

Aethyta grinned and cracked her knuckles. "Follow me, I'll warp us a path back to the docking bay that doesn't rely on the human's corridors and hatches. Salarians, rapid fire on targets of opportunity, tech grenades at any survivors of the biotics or any defence hardpoints. Techs, system infiltration. I want their monitoring programs blinded, their reinforcements cut off and their computer-controlled weaponry disabled."

The shuttle filled with blue and orange glows as the occupants stretched their biotics, checked their omitools, and prepared to disembark as it flew into the docking bay of the human dreadnought.

* * *

 **Zodiac System – Zodiac Group**

 **2112.11.10**

* * *

The briefing room for the marines stationed aboard _SSV Cotopaxi_ had been quickly repurposed due to its size and its proximity to the docking bay. Admiral Drescher sat on one side of the long table with Lt. Commander Edouard Bordey, Captain of the _SSV Trafalgar_ , seated on her left and her Flag Lieutenant Stephen Hackett seated on her right.

With negotiations with the Citadel Council the intended outcome of the Grand Fleet's mission they had been assigned an ambassador, but they had fallen afoul of the cosmic balance. The universe apparently felt that it had given them enough good luck when the turian Admiral decided to surrender his fleet rather than fight to the death. To make up for that, the universe gave them some bad luck, namely the death of the ambassador in the battle to liberate the Theta system.

Admiral Drescher sighed, the sound reverberating around her sealed helmet. She had told the ambassador to stay with the fleet train, safe from battle as the fleet train was in no way suited for combat and was thus always kept a system behind the advancing fleet. But the ambassador had demanded to be present with the warships, not trusting the military to await their arrival should a cease fire occur.

They had paid the price for that lack of trust when their quarters on the _SSV Everest_ were destroyed by one of the few shots to make it passed that dreadnoughts barriers. Thankfully Admiral Dresher was authorised to negotiate an armistice in the event the ambassador was killed, but it meant that she – a military officer – was engaging a much more experienced diplomat on their home turf.

Granted she had been through so many budget meetings that it wasn't as if she was completely ignorant of politics and negotiation, but she was still an amateur going up against a veteran. Thankfully the Alliance had recognised this and authorised her only to negotiate an armistice, not a peace treaty.

Given Lt. Commander Bordey's previous dealings with the asari she had asked that he be 'good cop', taking their side and shooting down Lieutenant Hackett's 'bad cop' comments, making her seem reasonable and central. It was a simple trick, and one the Council ambassador was sure to recognise, but every little helped.

Sitting down in their full biohazard suits, chosen over the marine's battle armour as they gave others an unobstructed view of the wearer's face, the three Alliance officers sat down as the Citadel ambassador did the same.

Admiral Drescher started the talks. "Are you sure you do not wish to wear fully sealed armour ambassador? We would not wish to cause you any illness."

Matriarch Benezia, as she had introduced herself, was wearing a form fitting body suit with an open thigh length coat over the top – an ensemble that the Admiral would bet was a lot more armoured than it looked – and had only a transparent breathing mask covering the lower half of her face.

The rest of her head was covered in an elaborate headdress that the ambassador said was used to show her position as a high priestess of the asari goddess Athame. It looked ridiculous to Katrine Dresher, but then she thought the same of the hat worn by the Archbishop of Paris whenever she saw a religious ceremony on her trips home.

Matriarch Benezia smiled gently but it was one of her two salarian aides that answered. Katrine got the impression that in normal circumstances one of those aides would have been turian.

"Risk of interspecies plague highly exaggerated in fiction. Sure you have found the same when colonising new worlds. Diseases very unlikely to cross species, require intense and prolonged contact in unsanitary conditions, unless exceedingly unlucky. Air filters more than sufficient for brief contact such as this. But respect cautious attitude shown by yourselves. Prevention better than cure."

The Salarian tilted their head, pointing their cranial horns away from Admiral Drescher, she assumed it was their equivalent of a nod of respect. Deliberately pointing one of your natural defences away from a possible opponent.

"The VIPER, excuse me – the Vaccine, Plague and Epidemic Response branch of the Citadel Council – regulations have been tried and tested over thousands of years. We are comfortable with just air masks, as an ambassador of the Citadel I will accept full responsibility should a plague jump species during these negotiations. No blame will be placed on you." Matriarch Benezia stated with confidence.

"As you have captured a turian dreadnought and made it operational, I assume you are aware of the Citadel Council? Captain Bordey was given an in depth briefing whilst he was a guest of the Asari Republics. How did you manage to get that operational by the way?"

Admiral Drescher nodded, not fooled by the casual and tacked on nature of an important intelligence question. "Captain Bordey has confirmed what we have summarised about the Citadel Council to be true. We will take a deeper look at the information you have provided tonight, to ensure that there are no misunderstandings in our current view of it."

"As to the capture and recommissioning of _HWS Enforcer_? Well there are always those that can be swayed by privileges. Money, luxury goods, better quality accommodation. There are always going to be some of them in a fleet that large, I admit there were less than we were expecting, it seems that the turian preoccupation with duty is not just propaganda, but there were enough."

Katrine studiously did not mention that there hadn't been anywhere near enough turian turncoats to bring the dreadnought back to full operational status. The skeleton crew with its turian advisors could move the ship and raise its barriers, and a jury-rigged work around enabled them to fire its main gun, but everything else from its guardian arrays to its broadside guns were out of action. Hidden behind encryption that her computer techs hadn't managed to break, and the turncoats didn't have the rank to deactivate.

The ship was essentially a giant – vulnerable – artillery platform rather than a true warship. But as long as they didn't actually engage in battle the Council Fleet wouldn't be able to figure that out. That the Alliance had been able to get that much use out of it was purely because the turian scuttling protocols simply wiped their computers data.

They didn't destroy the operating systems or reduce the physical computers themselves to slag, like human scuttling protocols did. Apparently, humans were closer to salarians than turians when it came to paranoia.

"Yes, there were plenty of volunteers, once we convinced the turians we weren't going to eat them." Lieutenant Hackett muttered.

"Excuse me? Eat them?" Matriarch Benezia's smile had become rather fixed as her guards visibly tensed, especially the head of the detail who somehow looked deadlier than all the rest combined.

Lt. Commander Bordey sighed and answered with the weary tone of someone who really hoped this topic wasn't going to come up. "Turians are visually somewhat similar to birds, one of which is a staple of the human diet. It is known as chicken and one of the most popular ways to serve it is deep fried in a blend of spices, when served this way it is known as kentucky fried chicken."

The Admiral steeled herself as the other humans in the room all tried to suppress grins. "Whilst being held captive and being interrogated by Superior Captain Solona Kandros about the tactics and objectives of Commodore Lalla Hansa, one of the marines – a sniper with the callsign tiger – decided to try psychological warfare on his captors."

"He got the two cells of prisoners to chant at each other: 'Kentucky fried chicken, Hansa's gonna eat you! Kentucky fried chicken, the Commodore's getting hungry! Kentucky fried chicken, Hansa's gonna eat you!' They kept it up constantly, for weeks, until their morale was broken with Commodore Hansa's defeat and death."

"Interesting. Did it work?" The second salarian aide asked curiously.

"Yes." Lieutenant Hackett grinned. "Apparently the prison guards on that ship had to be cycled three times faster than usual and spent most of their shifts muttering 'don't they ever stop? Just make them stop!'"

Matriarch Benezia was finding hiding her own amusement increasingly difficult as her chief bodyguard openly laughed. "Just to be clear, I take it you do not actually eat other sapient species?"

"No." Admiral Drescher replied, relieved. "We have several non-sapient animals we farm as a food source, but we don't eat other sentient species."

"Well, with that out of the way, I hope we are able to begin peace negotiations. I am vested with the full authority of the Citadel Council to negotiate a peace treaty on their behalf. Do you have the same authority from the human government?" Matriarch Benezia's face became serene again as she returned to business.

"In a manner of speaking." Admiral Drescher replied, taking note of the look of confusion on the asari's face. The fact that their facial expressions were so close to humans was a major help to her.

Body language was out, and she didn't have the experience to gauge people's thoughts from their tone and vocal patterns like the best career diplomats did. "How do asari negotiate peace treaties? That might expose any confusion that we have."

Matriarch Benezia explained. "When asari decide to negotiate peace, both sides return to their closest barracks or shipyards, prominent matriarchs are exchanged as hostages while the negotiations take place, and the two negotiating ambassadors come to a full and comprehensive agreement. How do humans negotiate peace?"

"Human peace negotiations, when not demanding an unconditional surrender, or a conditional surrender to previously publicly announced conditions, are a little different Matriarch." Admiral Drescher said carefully as both the asari and salarians shifted in their seats.

"Humans first negotiate something called an armistice. This is a cessation of military hostilities with a set expiry date and possible exchange of prisoners of war, the terms are unique each time. Then, while this is in effect, both sides consult their governments as to what would be acceptable peace terms. When the deadline comes the two sides decide whether to enter peace negotiations or restart the war."

"Should they decide to negotiate, the armistice stays in effect for the duration and the lead ambassadors then decide the main points in general terms. Once they have decided on a point it is sent to a team of aides from both sides who work out the details of the proposal and send it back to the ambassadors for approval. The final peace deal is then sent back to both sides governments for ratification."

"I see." Matriarch Benezia stated curiously.

"Curious. Both faster and slower than asari negotiations in different ways." The first salarian aide spoke up again. "Armistice allows temporary pause in war without committing to loss. Implications; interesting."

"I am not authorised to negotiate a peace treaty with you Matriarch, I am however authorised to negotiate an armistice." Admiral Drescher stated confidently. Trying to hide the fact that one of the main reasons that the Alliance couldn't authorise her to negotiate peace was because it didn't have a functioning government at the moment.

It had a diminished Executive Council holding joint power with the leaders of a military coup while an election was organised. That bastardisation of a government could hold everyone to an armistice, but a full peace treaty? Not a chance.

"I take it the sudden conformation of real – live – aliens has caused some disruption in the human government?" Matriarch Benezia asked kindly, almost managing to slip the incredibly potentially damaging intelligence query passed Katrine as casual, sympathetic, conversation.

Katrine shuddered at the thought of how close she had come to being outplayed and answered carefully. "There has indeed been some disruption Matriarch, I don't think anyone would believe me if I said there hadn't been. But the human government, we call it the Systems Alliance, is unified on the issue of protecting our space from invaders. I think the fact that this fleet is here with a turian dreadnought in its ranks is testament to that."

"As you said though the idea of living aliens is a lot to process, the idea of a multi species power such as the Citadel Council even more so. It will take time for the Alliance to decide what its ideal, likely, and minimum peace terms should be and appoint an ambassador."

The smirks on the faces of several of the asari guards weren't lost on the humans. The chief bodyguard looked like she was struggling to hold in laughter and in truth Admiral Drescher couldn't blame her.

To be quite frank the Systems Alliance would be forced to accept almost any peace terms that the Citadel Council decided to offer. The power discrepancy was just too great at the moment, though it was hidden from casual view behind the sheer number of human ships.

Human ships were still small compared to Citadel ones, with more of their internal volume dedicated to large and more primitive engines, kinetic barrier generators and guardian arrays with all of those parts being weaker than Citadel designs.

The data mined from the captured turian ships had been stark. Most human warships would barely classify as cutters in Citadel Space and would be outmatched by even a moderately wealthy planet's orbital guard cutters one on one, if not for their main guns.

Of the 3,000 Systems Alliance warships, barely 300 – the heavy cruisers and the three dreadnoughts – could be classified as warships by Citadel standards. The 1,900 cruisers would only be classified as orbital guard cutters by a generous inspector and the 800 frigates would be classified as police or modified civilian ships. Little more than target practice in a fleet battle.

The Alliance fleet had overwhelmed the turian Third Patrol Fleet with sheer numbers, and every human in that room knew it. They probably could take out this second Citadel Fleet, even its massive bannership if their frigates got lucky with a Bismarck style torpedo run, but it would be a pyrrhic victory. The Grand Fleet would be gutted, and Home Fleet wouldn't be able to stop even a turian patrol fleet from conquering Sol.

A comparison that showed the true state of things was the number of sailors in the navy. In the entire Alliance navy there were barely 3 million people. Even the navies of the Citadel Associate Races had similar numbers and the smallest Council Race navy, that of the Salarian Union, had over 10 million on active service even in its peacetime order of battle.

"Very well, an Armistice then." Matriarch Benezia stated, agreeing while tactfully avoiding pointing out that the Systems Alliance had very little say in the matter. The true powers in the peace negotiations, when they eventually got underway, would be Citadel public opinion and diplomatic calculation.

How much was the Council willing to offer to make up for the rogue turians actions and repair the spectacular black eye they had given the Citadel's peacekeeping forces? How much would the Council be willing to offer to keep the humans friendly towards the Citadel Council and out of the pockets of the Terminus Systems?

Either one of those calculations were vastly more important to Matriarch Benezia than the power of the Alliance Navy.

"What are the traditional terms?" The ancient Matriarch asked calmly, letting none of her thoughts show on her face or in her voice.

Admiral Drescher answered. "A set time frame, perhaps 16 weeks? After which a decision will be made to either enter into full peace negotiations or to restart the war. During that time neither side will reinforce the front line, damaged ships and injured soldiers may be rotated out and replaced but forces already present may not be increased. Likewise, infrastructure damage and damage to existing fortifications and logistics points may be repaired, but new ones may not be constructed. All present territory, material and prisoners will remain with their current controllers."

Matriarch Benezia shook her head sadly. "I am afraid that I will have to alter a small number of your suggestions Admiral. The first is the length of time that the armistice will last, 16 weeks is far too long. I could see the need if the Systems Alliance was in deep internal turmoil, but if it is just minor political disagreements then 8 weeks should be more than sufficient. The Citadel has many commitments, we must balance the time spent on each of them carefully."

"The problems at home are indeed only minor bickering, 8 weeks is not ideal, but it might finally light a fire under some of the more obstinate people's arse's. Don't you agree Admiral?" Lieutenant Hackett spoke up.

Thankfully Admiral Drescher had asked for double the time she needed. The election was in 6 weeks, 2 weeks to agree a negotiating position was tight, but doable and the ambassador could always drag their feet in the negotiations if the new Assembly didn't have everything worked out when peace talks commenced. She nodded her acquiescence.

"Excellent."

Katrine was almost certain that Benezia saw right through her, but it didn't matter. As long as she got the terms the Alliance desperately needed into this armistice she would happily be outplayed by a veteran diplomat.

"The restrictions on fleet movements, ground troop reinforcement, repairs, holding captured territory, all of these seem perfectly reasonable to me. I assure you they are not necessary, none of the Citadel race's governments wish you harm. But as the injured party I do understand your caution. All of these stipulations can stand."

"Thank you, Matriarch. My time with the asari let me see your good intentions, but others have only rogue turians as a reference point. Your willingness to let these stipulations stand will undoubtedly go a long way to calming their concerns."

Katrine personally thought that Lt. Commander Bordey was laying it on a bit thick, but it seemed to do the job. Or at least none of the Citadel diplomats called out such blatantly insincere bootlicking.

"The last stipulation though, that of holding captured troops and material. I'm afraid that that is going to be a problem for us." Matriarch Benezia spoke calmly. "The Turian Hierarchy will never allow so many of their ships and their people to be held captive for any length of time."

"Maybe they shouldn't have sent them to invade a peaceful species then." Lieutenant Hackett replied obstinately. "No way will we let them go only to have them turn around and threaten us again."

"I assure you that the regrettable incident with the Third Patrol Fleet will not be allowed to reoccur. The Citadel will ensure…."

"Yeh, I'm sure the turians will keep a nice tight leash on their fellow turians. Absolutely smashing, no problems there."

Stephens' sarcasm could have stripped the paint from the bulkheads. Katrine wanted to kick him to let him know he was dangerously close to going too far, but she couldn't let any sign of dissent be visible at this crucial moment.

"The ASARI and SALARIANS will ensure that they do not repeat their actions. Should it make you feel more comfortable, we will be willing to impound both the troops and the ships until the peace negotiations are concluded. The fleet did break Citadel law after all, the turians will have to concede that." Matriarch Benezia emphasised each species name while speaking directly to Admiral Drescher. She had definitely deduced that Lieutenant Hackett had been deliberately ordered to be antagonistic.

"That is indeed generous Matriarch, but it is still difficult. Many of our people will see it as the turians escaping justice for their actions. I have a counter proposal. We transfer all ships apart from _HWS Enforcer_ to an impoundment facility under asari and salarian control. We also transfer all prisoners of war apart from Admiral Arterius and the other surviving fleet and army banner officers. We keep all of the ground equipment, there's too much of it to move easily."

Matriarch Benezia looked faintly displeased at Admiral Drescher's counter proposal, but eventually she agreed. "It is not ideal, but given the Third Patrol Fleet's actions I think that we can accept it for the moment." Her face adequately suggested what would normally happen to those who dared to try and pass judgement on the Council's peacekeepers.

"I hope you understand that the health and wellbeing of the banner officers is entirely the responsibility of the Systems Alliance, and that the Citadel Council will not be forgiving of any…accidents… that may befall them. Permanent or not."

"We do understand Matriarch." Admiral Drescher replied, hiding her relief. "I take it you will need to confer with the Citadel, given that the nature of the armistice differs to the peace negotiations that they were expecting to take place? The document will need to be drawn up for signing as well. Shall we reconvene here tomorrow at 11:00 for the signing?"

"I could speak to the Citadel Council within the hour and a printed document could be produced and ready for signing an hour after that. Why do you want to delay another day?" Matriarch Benezia was confused, but not suspicious. She had not gotten the impression that Katrine Drescher could be duplicitous even if she wanted to. Not to her at least.

Admiral Drescher smiled sadly. "Tomorrow is the 11th of November. At 11:00, nearly 200 years ago, the armistice that ended the first modern, worldwide war ended. It wasn't our deadliest war, that started about 20 years later, but it was the first and its death toll was truly horrific."

"There were over 41 million casualties, 18 million dead and 23 million wounded which was nearly 4% of our entire species at that time. We'd never seen anything like it before, so it left a deep mark on our memories. Ever since Armistice day has remained the same, the 11th of November with the ceremonies at 11:00 to remember the fallen in all of our wars."

The Admiral shrugged as she finished her explanation. "There is no real reason for the delay, we can sign tonight if you desire it Matriarch, but it seemed fitting somehow, to end our First Contact War on the anniversary of the end of the First World War."

There was silence from the asari delegation. After the turian unification wars, the rachni wars, the krogan rebellions and finally the geth war, huge death tolls were nothing new to the asari. Indeed, by the standards of most galactic wars the death toll Admiral Drescher mentioned was pitiful, so was the percentage when only a few years before this war had apparently broken out the quarrians had lost over 99% of their population, massacred by their own creations.

It was the personal connection that caused them to reflect on the human war. If this First World War had taken place less than 200 years ago, then every asari in the room was older than that. They were all drinking tea, dancing in a bar, living life to the full. All while the ancestors of the humans they were talking to had been fighting and dying. Hidden from the galaxy.

"11:00 tomorrow is fine." Matriarch Benezia replied after a moments silence. "We will arrive at 10:00 so that the signing may proceed without incident."

"Thank you, Matriarch." Admiral Drescher replied as the asari delegation got up to leave.

At the eleventh hour, of the eleventh day, of the eleventh month 1918 Common Era, an armistice was signed in a railway train at Compiegne in northern France, ending humanities First World War.

At the eleventh hour, of the eleventh day, of the eleventh month 2112 Common Era, an armistice was signed aboard a human dreadnought in the Zodiac system, and humanities First Contact War came to an end.

* * *

 _Codex Entry: The Vaccine, Plague and Epidemic Response branch of the Citadel Council (VIPER)_

 _(Citadel Codex, First Human SPECTRE Collector's Edition, 2183)_

* * *

 _To understand VIPER and the risk of interspecies plague, first you must understand what is actually meant by the term. Diseases – such as the common cold (humans) – are very different to plagues._

 _This is due to a specific difference between disease and plague. Disease's don't want to kill their host's, for the same reason that you do not wish to burn down your own home, they need a place to live. This is why the worst diseases, such as leprosy in humans, are the ones that are the best at living in their hosts without killing them._

 _Plague's on the other hand, rip through populations at lightning speed, spreading fast and killing anyone not immune very quickly. Upon contracting a plague, the host will generally be dead in 7-30 days (for humans). If the host survives they will be immune and will never be harmed by that plague again. However, they can still be carriers, infecting other people despite being immune themselves._

 _The problem for the plague organisms is that if the population density is not high enough and constantly replenished, the plague burns through the whole population. Killing all who are susceptible, leaving only the immune. With nowhere left to go the plague then dies out, it is a fire that burns through its fuel. This would seem to be a poor evolutionary path for plague organisms to take, as they would burn out before being able to spread without cities and mobile populations._

 _This is entirely true and the reason for this effect only emphasises the difference between plagues and diseases. Plague lethality is an accident._

 _A plague is a disease that is native to another species, usually a livestock animal on the relative species homeworld. It thinks it is in another animal entirely. Taking Earth as an example: measles, tuberculosis and smallpox are all plagues that affect humans._

 _They are also all standard diseases for a livestock animal native to Earth known as a cow. For a cow they are mild inconveniences', similar to colds for humans, but the things that they do to their host to make a cow a little sick - to enable themselves to spread - make a human very sick, deadly sick._

 _Germs jumping species like this is incredibly rare, which is why there are only a handful of plagues that affect each individual species. It is also why when the two halves of Earth's biosphere met with the arrival of Europeans in the America's, the population of the America's declined 90%. The native population was virtually wiped out by plague, whereas the European explorers and colonisers were unaffected._

 _The reason was sadly very simple, as the America's did not have domesticated animals – apart from very limited lama domestication – they did not spend enough time in close proximity – and unsanitary enough conditions – with other species for germs to jump species._

 _As such, the America's had no plague to infect the Europeans with and the no-immunity disaster was confined to the population of the new world. Leaving them without the numbers to effectively defend themselves from the unaffected European colonisers._

 _For further data on plagues and the difference between them and normal diseases' this codex recommends 'Americapox: The Missing Plague'. Published by 'CGP Grey' on the youtube extranet site._

 _This is the context in which the Vaccine, Plague and Epidemic Response (VIPER) branch of the Citadel Council operates._

 _Upon meeting a new race VIPER takes the following steps._

 _1.) The complete sequencing of the new race's genome if it has not already been completed by said race._

 _2.) The exposure of the new race's genome to all existing Citadel race plagues and vaccines, both via computer modelling and via flash grown – brain dead – clones._

 _3.) The indexing of all plagues and vaccines known to the new race._

 _4.) The exposure of the Citadel race's genomes to all new race plague and vaccines both via computer modelling and via flash grown – brain dead – clones._

 _5.) The issuing of all currently existing non-harmful and effective vaccines to the new race's public health bodies with a strong suggestion – (mandatory if beginning the Citadel Ascension Process) – of an immediate and mandatory species wide vaccination programme and permanent inclusion of the vaccines in the new race's infant vaccination schedules._

 _6.) A mandatory Citadel Space wide vaccination programme – and permanent inclusion in the infant vaccination schedules – of all new race vaccines that are found to be effective and non-harmful for Citadel races._

 _7.) The development of new vaccines that are compatible with the new race's biology for all Citadel race plagues whose existing vaccines were found to be ineffective or dangerous to the new race, due to them being designed for aliens. Step 5 is repeated when each new vaccine is developed._

 _8.) The development of new vaccines that are compatible with Citadel race's biology for all new race plagues whose existing vaccines were found to be ineffective or dangerous to one or more Citadel races, due to them being designed for aliens. Step 6 is repeated when each new vaccine is developed._

 _9.) All new race plagues without a vaccine are added to VIPER's research list._

 _10.) Medical professionals and knowledge are recruited and obtained from the new race and are added to VIPER's research programmes, treatment methods and information base for use on all plagues without vaccines. Several vaccines for existing Citadel plagues have been created when new race's medical data has suggested a radical new approach._

 _VIPER also functions as the Citadel's defensive biological warfare branch. Whenever a weaponised plague is deployed in the galaxy, VIPER goes to great lengths to obtain a sample and develop both a cure and a vaccine._

 _Should a weaponised plague be deployed in Citadel Space, VIPER is charged with the containment as well as the treatment of the plague. This can be a thankless task, watching both the original victims and the VIPER volunteers deployed to help local healthcare die as no cure can be found in time._

 _A VIPER quarantine is the single non-Council order that agents of the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance branch of the Citadel Council (SPECTRES) are obligated to follow._

 _The Council's reaction to the only SPECTRE to violate a VIPER quarantine is legendary. The SPECTRE's ship was held in the tractor beam of one of the quarantine enforcement fleet's ships, before having its engines disabled with a surgical mass driver strike and being launched into the local sun with the offending SPECTRE still aboard._

 _The dramatic and final nature of the message is credited with the achievement that none of these notoriously independent agents have violated a VIPER quarantine without specific Council authorisation since._

 _The Citadel Council does not maintain an offensive biological warfare branch. Critics of this form of warfare state that this is not due to the publicly stated moral objection to it following the deployment of the genophage, but rather only because the Council knows it could never even come close to matching the biological weaponization programmes of the Salarian Union._

* * *

 _So, this is my first time creating a branch of the Citadel Council, we only ever see SPECial Tactics and REcon in canon. What do you guys think of the VaccIne, Plague and Epidemic Response branch?_

* * *

 **Timeline Changes So Far**

 _First colony on mars: 27 years earlier than cannon_

 _Discovery of Prothean ruins: 64 years earlier than cannon_

 _Founding of the Systems Alliance (council of nations version): 63 years earlier than cannon_

 _First Contact War: 45 years earlier than cannon_


	19. Chapter 19

_Standard disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect, nor any other content that you recognise. Some characters and systems are original creations. I am receiving no money for my work._

* * *

 **London – Earth**

 **2018.08.24**

* * *

 _Apologies for my long absence. My boyfriend of 4 years ended our relationship a few months ago. As he was my main inspiration, motivation and beta for this story; indeed, he was the only reason I started writing again in the first place, finding the motivation to write again has been very difficult._

 _It took a long time to write this chapter and I'm not convinced it's up to my usual quality, but I can't seem to improve it any further, so it's time to post it and move on. I'm uncertain if my update speed will be anything like before, we will have to find out. But hey, at least I managed to finally get another chapter done. I hope you all enjoy it! Best wishes, James._

* * *

 **Vancouver - Earth**

 **2112.12.02**

* * *

Rajendra Tharoor sat behind the desk of the Secretary General of the Systems Alliance. With the election to form the Constitutional Assembly still three weeks away he was still the leader of the unholy mess that was the Systems Alliance government at the moment, well the civilian portion of it at least. He was roused from his study of the schematics for the proposed Arcturus Station by the arrival of the two people he was effectively sharing power with, even if at the moment they deferred to him and asked for his permission.

Tharoor never allowed himself to forget that these two people had overthrown the previous government of the Alliance, and without a constitution and assembly to rally the people behind, his own position was just as precarious.

"Fleet Admiral Carmichael, Field Marshal Khatri." The Prime Minister of India rose and warmly greeted his guests despite his internal thoughts, gesturing for them to sit at the two chairs placed in front of his desk. "You asked to see me?"

"Yes Sir." Admiral Carmichael replied respectfully. "And we appreciate you taking the time away from the campaign to meet with us, but we have been studying the data retrieved from the turian wrecks along with that provided by the asari diplomatic team for the armistice, and we have discovered a serious and time sensitive strategic concern."

"And what is that Admiral?" The PM asked frowning. With the signing of the armistice, decisions on practically everything were being delayed till after the election. The Alliance's departments had been running on inertia for weeks, simply carrying out the last set of orders they received until they received new ones.

"We are about to be trapped." Marshal Khatri stated bluntly placing a projection disk down onto the PM's desk. A map sprang into the air above the desk, specifically one that they were all intimately familiar with. The Prothean map of what they had designated the local super sector span lazily in the air, Sol shining brightly near its centre.

"As you know Prime Minister, the relay network is divided into clusters linked by primary mass relay pairs, though they do also have at least one inter-sector secondary relay connection for emergencies. What you may not know is that the Citadel Council has a specific law forbidding the activation of dormant mass relays, and it is a law that they do not grant exceptions for and enforce zealously."

Prime Minister Tharoor looked startled, immediately grasping the gravity of the situation. "How do they expand? All of our relays, primary and secondary alike, were deactivated when we found them. If we hadn't opened them then…."

"We would still be trapped in Sol, or at least within the local cluster." Admiral Carmichael stated bluntly. "The Citadel created the law after an event known as the Rachni War, where scouting carelessly unleashed a hive minded insect horde on the galaxy. Apparently, there are enough active relays to give ample room for the Citadel races to expand, though it does leave massive dead zones in their territory. One which we inhabit. We should be grateful really, were it not for this law then Council warships would likely have arrived in Earth orbit hundreds of years ago, and we would be just another weak client race. Or worse, given our neighbours."

"Give it to me straight. How bad a position are we in?" The Prime minister asked, dreading the response.

The map changed to show the current political borders of the galaxy as the First Space Lord replied.

"To the galactic west, the primary relay from our territory leads into the Krogan Demilitarized Zone and from there, directly to the Citadel. We expected as much given the maps we decrypted from captured turian technology, having all the systems in this direction be already claimed isn't an issue. This is." The map changed to zoom in on the galactic south where a large swathe of space was coloured in brown.

"This is the Batarian Hegemony Prime Minister." The First Sky Marshal took over. "I'll leave the precise briefing to the foreign office, but suffice to say that its extremely unlikely we will get on. As you can see the secondary relay links south from both the Petra Nebula cluster and the Artemis Tau cluster lead directly into their territory. With the galactic core cutting off our expansion to the galactic north, this little development leaves us hemmed in on three sides."

"And east?" Rajendra Tharoor asked plaintively. He could see the danger. If the galactic east was cut off to them as well, then the Systems Alliance's growth would be cut off at the knees. Oh, it wouldn't matter for centuries yet, but eventually they would simply run out of room and their economic and military power would stagnate. All while the Council species continued to expand into the vast and unclaimed Attican Traverse, the effective neutral zone between Council Space and the Terminus Systems.

"Here is where it gets dicey sir." Admiral Carmichael spoke carefully. To the east there is a primary relay link out of batarians territory, but they only claim its destination cluster and one other cluster there because then they run into the elcor home cluster, effectively blocking their expansion." The map changed again to show an area in green labelled 'The Courts of Dekuuna'.

"Elcor territory is centred on the Nubian Expanse cluster and extends eastwards to the galactic core, the primary relay linking them to the Citadel is here in the Shadow Sea cluster. They cut off both us and the batarians from the Attican Traverse. But!" The First Space Lord held up a hand to forestall any comments. "There is a way through. The Shadow Sea cluster, despite being elcor territory, is administered, patrolled and defended by the Citadel Council on behalf of the elcor."

"Why on earth would they agree to that?" The PM asked, puzzled, "The shadow Sea is the only cluster that links the galactic south east to the galactic north east without going through the elcor home system. Even I can see that it is a strategically vital chokepoint."

"Exactly that PM, the cluster suffered so many pirate attacks that the elcor needed very little arm twisting to allow the Citadel to control it. But they did make sure to demand a free passage for all clause."

Rajendra grinned as he immediately saw the opportunity. So, if we can gain access to this Shadow Sea cluster from the south then nothing can stop us expanding north. We won't be trapped and can effectively catch up with the Council races. I take it that having our territory cut in half by only one potentially enemy held system is something that the military feels is a viable strategic position?"

"Oh yes sir." Marshal Khatri grinned fiercely. "We can handle one system if it comes to that."

"Then I'm guessing that this whole situation just comes down to these clusters here." PM Tharoor cut to the chase zooming the map into a section of relays that were marked as inactive. "The primary relays in Attican Beta will link the Shadow Sea to our own territory here in Hades Gamma, and the secondary relays in the three surrounding clusters will give us a lot of territory to absorb in the meantime, as well as giving us a second link into elcor territory. I take it that you're here talking to me because there is no way for us to legally activate those relays under Citadel law?"

"That's right sir." Marshal Khatri replied angrily. "The only way to legally open a relay under citadel law is to send probes to its destination system, determine that there is no spacefaring species present, and then submit a petition of activation to the Citadel Council. Suffice to say it takes well over a century for each one. Even with no organic crew so they don't have to stop and discharge their drive cores, the probes can only go so fast. There's a reason we are dependent on the mass relays in the first place. Now, that may seem like reasonable timescale to an asari, but for the rest of us it's crippling."

"By the way PM, we have probes inbound into our territory from the batarians. Apparently, they were planning to petition the Council to open the Petra Nebula and Artemis Tau relays from their side. When they find out we already have colonies in those clusters, well I think there is going to be a lot of trouble."

The Prime Minister nodded and filed that information away. "I take it you have a plan?" He asked, keeping to the matter at hand.

"We want to send one, and only, one of our black ops frigates to activate the dormant relays. All of them that don't link into Citadel claimed territory."

Rajendra Tharoor sat, deep in thought. "Given the penalty for disobeying that law I would ask if you are insane, but I see where you are coming from. Without access to the Shadow Sea we will forever be trapped or split, always a second-rate power. The details?"

"We send our black ops frigate to activate all of the relays that don't lead to Council Space. But we backdate the activation, as far as anyone outside the three of us and that frigate is concerned, we opened them before we met the asari and knew of the law. We can't be charged with breaking the law if we didn't know of it. Then, later on, we sent out normal troops to garrison the relay systems, enough to count as a legitimate claim under Citadel law."

"Nothing in the law says that we can't claim systems with already active relays, and the Citadel can't object to us claiming territory that we assumed was ours anyway. Until now we just didn't know that we needed to officially claim it. Once we have a peace treaty we can send petition of activations to the Council for the remaining relays to link us properly to Citadel space."

The Prime Minister looked at the slowly spinning map and sighed deeply. "It bypasses all of our safety protocols for exploration, which could lead to disaster in and of itself even if the Citadel doesn't find out and restart the war in retaliation." The two military officers remained silent, they had already laid out their case. "Not even elected yet and I'm already taking massive gambles with the future of humanity. Do it."

* _Map available on thefourthcouncilrace dot tumblr dot com_

* * *

 **The Citadel – Serpent Nebula**

 **2112.12.16**

* * *

Anita Goyle sat behind her desk as two asari stormed into her office unannounced.

She had arrived at the Citadel a week ago to great fanfare on the _SSV Cotopaxi_ countering the magnificence of the Citadel's greeting with a display of human military power.

After the ceremonies and rope lines, the interviews and the party invitations, she had settled down to work in the temporary embassy granted to Humanity on the presidium ring.

Scattered around were datapads filled with academic works and historical memoirs detailing the political structure of the Citadel Alliance, each of its member states, the political structure of its member states, the records of their first contact with the Citadel and their ascension process, and the records of every peace treaty the Citadel Council had ever signed and the negotiations leading up to them.

The peace negotiations wouldn't begin until the 6th of January, and ambassador Goyle intended to be as prepared as possible to make up for the weakness of humanity's position.

"Can I help you Matriarchs?" Anita queried ironically raising a delicate eyebrow at the dramatic entrance.

"That depends." Matriarch Irissa Theris growled out slamming her subtly glowing hands down on the desk and towering over Anita Goyle. "What the fuck did you think you were doing opening mass relays without permission? Do you want to be bombed back into the stone age like the Krogan?"

Ambassador Goyle returned the angry gaze of her asari counterpart coolly. While Matriarch Tevos served as the Asari Councillor, all three Council races maintained an ambassador as well as a councillor on the Citadel. Mainly their duties were to deal with the day to day diplomacy that kept the galaxy turning, allowing the councillors to focus on the big picture.

Of course, the role also acted as a stepping stone for those who had ambitions to reach the rank of councillor one day, taking the role either as a protégé of the existing councillor to learn the ropes from them, or as an opponent using the position to build a rival power base among the movers and shakers of the Citadel's diplomatic class as they manoeuvred to replace the incumbent councillor.

The fact that it was Ambassador Irissa confronting her rather than Councillor Tevos, and that Matriarch Benezia was present but hanging back, told the veteran ambassador all that she needed to know. The Citadel wasn't sure of its accusation and was trying to bully her into making a mistake. That may have worked on some people, but Anita Goyle had undertaken many secret negotiations with parties willing to quite literally gut her at any point. A pissed off asari Matriarch was intimidating, but not nearly enough to make her loose her cool.

"We were thinking that we were at war with the Citadel Council, Matriarch." Anita responded icily, ignoring the slight moans from the table as Irissa's biotics strained the metal. She stood up gracefully to look her fellow ambassador in the eye. "And that our evacuation transports would need a place to flee to, away from our existing colonies to ensure the survival of our species if you continued to attack us."

"And you just happened to stop before you activated any leading into Citadel Space?" Irissa spat contemptuously, but behind the manufactured rage Anita saw a flicker of respect cross Irissa's face at the fact she hadn't caved or shown any sign of being intimidated.

"Not at all. We had decoded the turian maps. We opened every relay we could find that didn't lead to your space, so as to give our evacuation transports as much space to hide in as possible." Ambassador Goyle stuck to the cover story religiously. Less than 20 people in the galaxy knew for certain that it was bollocks, and even though when more than 12 people knew it a secret was bound to leak eventually, the low number meant that the Alliance could hopefully keep a lid on that fact for decades, centuries if they were lucky.

Ambassador Irissa growled but Matriarch Benezia finally stepped forward. "Perhaps that is true Ambassador, but that doesn't explain the large troop movements into the newly accessible systems. Your own armistice terms place limits on reinforcing existing positions or creating new ones, it would seem that humans view treaty obligations as optional extras. Perhaps we should do the same?"

Conciliatory and disappointed, Matriarch Benezia acted as the perfect counterpoint to Matriarch Irissa. It was superbly executed, but it was such a simple trick that Ambassador Goyle was almost insulted that they had even thought to try it.

"The armistice forbids the reinforcement of the frontlines or the logistics bases supporting them Matriarch. It does not forbid troop movements on the other side of the power in question, as far away from the front lines as it is possible to get. None of the relays linking those systems to Citadel Space are active either, so we can't even be accused of preparing another front in case talks break down. After all, we have agreed not to open new relays in return for the armistice and peace negotiations."

"Then what possible reason could you have to deploy all of those troops?" Matriarch Benezia asked.

"Why to claim the systems Matriarch." Ambassador Goyle adopted a look of wide eyed surprise and naiveite to counter the asari's belligerence and feigned disappointment. "Normally we would not, but now it seems that other species could simply send their own troops or colonists and claim them under Citadel law. Not that I believe for a moment that you would condone it, but four entire clusters worth of systems would be a huge prize and one that would solve many of the batarian's and others problems. It wouldn't be fair to ask the Citadel to evict them when the systems do not contain enough humans to register as a valid claim under Citadel law, despite the Alliance's existing claims being valid under human law."

Irissa Theris seemed to be fighting a smirk at Anita Goyle's act, all of them knew that no Citadel fleet would have been sent to evict any batarian claimants arriving through elcor space when the connecting relays were opened.

Indeed, the Citadel Council would have breathed a sigh of relief if the batarians had expanded into the region as they would both have expanded, shutting down that constant complaining, compromised their territorial integrity by having the new systems separated from their current empire by the entirety of elcor territory, and ended up locked in a struggle with the Systems Alliance while simultaneously stunting the Alliance's growth to boot. Tying up both powers and making them much easier to deal with.

Ambassador Goyle reflected that just such a scenario was probably the outcome that Councillor Tevos was actively working towards at the moment, hence the asari's visit.

Matriarch Benezia hid her frustration and adopted a disappointed tone. "Perhaps you could inform us before taking these steps next time Ambassador? It would save all of us a great deal of trouble."

"Of course, Matriarch. We would not wish to do anything to do anything to cause trouble for the Citadel." Ambassador Goyle smiled sweetly, moving around her desk to show her guests to the door.

Benezia T'Soni shot her a very sceptical look as she left, but Ambassador Goyle thought she detected an ever so slight nod of respect from Ambassador Irissa. As the door closed behind them, the human ambassador let her head thunk into it in relief. The first crisis had been successfully avoided. Now there were only 10,000 more to go.

* * *

 **London – Earth**

 **2112.12.23**

* * *

BBC NEWS

Big Ben chimed a quarter to the hour as the camera panned into the studio and the host came into shot, sitting before his group of four guests. He smiled at the camera as the crew let him know he was now live.

"Good evening and welcome to this election night special here on the BBC, I'm Andrew Parker. The polls close in only 15 minutes, remember if you are in line when they close you will still be allowed to vote, so if you've somehow forgotten this historic election was today? Run, you can probably still make it to the polling stations in time."

Andrew flashed his trademark grin at the cameras to the chuckles from his guests before continuing. "We will be providing you with commentary and results, guests and expert analysis throughout the night and into the morning, when I at least will finally be able to get some sleep as Samantha takes over. Due to the new voting system being used and the election being held across the globe the results will come a little slower than our British viewers are used to, but most seats should have declared by this time tomorrow night."

Andrew paused, gesturing as a youtube video from CGP Grey entitled 'Politics in the animal kingdom: Single Transferable Vote' appeared the corner of the screen, waiting to be clicked on if the viewer so wished.

"A reminded to our British viewers that this video explains the Single Transferable Vote system that this election was conducted with. As a compromise was required between those nations that wanted locally based representatives and those that wanted a purely proportional vote, this system was chosen as it combines the benefits of both with the disadvantages of neither."

"Though as this has been playing in polling stations all day, if you haven't seen it then you probably haven't voted. And I don't know why you'd be staying up to watch a political analysis program if that's the case."

Andrew grinned at the camera again, but he was interrupted before he could draw breath.

"Well let's be honest Andrew, it wasn't about fixing any problems with the voting system. It was about rigging the election to deny the British People the chance to tell these Alliance supporters to take a long walk off of beachy head!"

Andrew Parker's smile became rather fixed and he decided to introduce his guests to re-establish control. "Well, to all of you watching at home who aren't familiar with them, at this point in the evening I am joined by Jessica Parker – no relation – who is the spokesman of the Nations and Freedom Cohort, James Patel; prizewinning journalist and current political editor of The Times, Amanda Abbot; CEO of fact check."

"Finally, representing the coalition government we are lucky to have the Foreign Secretary, Owain Lloyd George with us tonight. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the show."

A Chorus of good evenings came back at him before Andrew turned to Jessica Parker who looked ready to explode. "A reminder to our viewers that it was impossible for parties to be formed in only six weeks, so current political parties have been working across national boundaries with those of similar views in broad factions."

"Jessica, you are the UK spokesperson of the only faction to have campaigned against Alliance membership; the Nations and Freedom Cohort. You have claimed throughout this campaign that this election is illegal and invalid are you sticking to that case tonight?"

"Yes, we are Andrew." Jessica Parker replied with the fire of her convictions. "There is no doubt in my mind that if we were being elected under first passed the post, as all elections to Westminster are, then the NFC would be taking the most seats tonight."

"But you're not, not because of any conspiracy but because your just not anyone's second or third choice. Most people want the Systems Alliance to succeed, and they would rather the views that one of the pro-alliance factions represents succeeds over those that would see the Alliance fail, even if they don't get their first choice." James Patel shot back calmly, his newspaper articles had backed Prime Minister Cable to the hilt over his all-in gamble on the Systems Alliance.

"That's just a fancy way of sidestepping the issue that there are 5 pro-alliance factions and they can't even agree on what form the new Systems Alliance government should take! Do you really expect people to just sign a blank cheque?" Jessica replied using one of the strongest vectors of attack she had.

"Interesting that you should mention cheques when so much of the money pouring into your party's campaign has been from China." Amanda Abbot cut in. "Their plan was obviously to play the first passed the post game and ensure you got enough seats to block any proposal. Now your finding it's a lot harder to buy seats under STV and you're afraid you'll fall short of the mark."

"We at factcheck have also noticed a startling similarity to many of the recent American political speeches during this campaign. There have been accusations that you have been sharing resources and writers with them, expenses that have not been declared on your election returns and could lead to criminal charges."

Seeing the frustration Jessica Parker was experiencing as the others ganged up on their unifying enemy, Andrew decided to give her a chance to regroup. He turned to his final guest. "Owain Lloyd George, you've been rather quiet so far. Do you share Ms Abbot's confidence? I know you won't be drawn on whether you think your political faction has gained the upper hand, but do you think that the anti-alliance electoral faction has gained enough seats to frustrate any plan the Constitutional Assembly might come up with?"

"As always Andrew I will be waiting before the exit poll before making any comments." Owain grinned, not falling for the trap. "But I certainly hope that the pro-alliance factions have carried the day. No matter what difference's I have with my colleagues in other parties we can all agree that membership of the Systems Alliance is the best way forward for the United Kingdom."

"Now, we have a long way to go, a lot of things need to be worked out, and Jessica is right, it's a huge challenge. Also – quite frankly – it's a terrifying challenge as well. But I'd just like to share a quote from my great grandfather David that comes to me every time I think about that. **'Don't be afraid to take a big step if one is indicated, you can't cross a chasm in two small jumps.'** "

The other guests all looked eager to take the floor once again, but Andrew Parker cut them off as Big Ben began to chime the hour. "Well thank you all, but it's time for the first big surprise of the night. It's the exit poll which should be being released now the polls have closed…..yes and here it is, and what a result!"

Everyone present shifted in their seats to try and get the best view of the large display screen showing the exit poll, so they had a few extra seconds to think of how to spin the results when Andrew came back to them.

"It seems the International Coalition of Conservatives and Reformists are expected to be the largest party, followed closely by the Progressive Alliance of Democratic Socialists, the Nations and Freedom Cohort may be coming in third, but they have still managed to sucker punch the Alliance of Liberals and Social Democrats into a distant fourth place, which is a terrible performance given the expectations the ALSD had. The Association of Free Greens and the Peoples Protective Grouping are bringing up the rear."

The bar charts splashed vibrant colours over the display screens giving the groups predicted vote share and seat numbers.

Vote Share Prediction Seats Prediction

ICCR – 34% ICCR – 31%

PADS – 30% PADS – 29%

NFC – 22% NFC – 23%

ALSD – 11% ALSD – 13%

AFG – 2% AFG – 2%

PPG – 1% PPG – 2%

"Well, I'll return to my guests in just a moment. No doubt Ms Abbot will be thrilled with this result and Mr Patel will be ecstatic given its unexpected nature, I expect we will see another journalism award coming his way given the material here tonight if these predictions are born out."

"Poor Mr Lloyd George looks to be in for a rough night, the Lib Dem's ALSD, the Green's AFG and Plaid Cymru's PPG; all of the factions that the coalition government's parties are members of seem to have been routed – which with the next general election only a year away says that the government is in very serious trouble – but the kicker…." Andrew trailed off for dramatic effect.

"The Nations and Freedom Cohort is third, but it only has 22% of the vote and is predicted to take only 23% of the available seats. Now, this is all predictions at the moment, but if those figures are right then the NFC is 11% away from the 34% of seats they need to be able to unilaterally block any constitution due to the 2/3rds majority required to approve it."

"They'll have one last chance to make their case against the Alliance when any new constitution proceeds to ratification by the member state governments. But, for now, unless they make up that gap in terms of seats – and to be honest given how large that gap that is it's difficult to see how they will do that – it appears what we will definitely have a new Systems Alliance, it just remains to be seen what sort of Alliance it will be."

* * *

 **The Citadel – Serpent Nebula**

 **2113.02.02**

* * *

The Citadel Councillors tried to forget the last time they had met in their high security private meeting chambers because of the humans. The political, economic and prestige damage had been appalling even if the military damage was minimal. Recriminations had been being thrown at them by their governments for the last three months and they were only now, barely, getting back to anything approaching normal.

"Do you know why Benezia has called us here Tevos?" Corinthus Oraka asked frustratedly. The entire Relay 314 Incident was the biggest black eye to turian honour and prestige in centuries and both he and the Primarch just wanted it done with as fast as possible, so that it would begin to fade from the public's memory.

"Only that the peace negotiations had deadlocked, and she needed to speak to us immediately." Councillor Tevos stated calmly despite her own internal frustration. The humans had successfully avoided her attempts to get them locked in an eternal border war with the Batarian Hegemony, even though success had been unlikely Matriarch Tevos Calis did not like being outmanoeuvred.

Especially when the success of that project would have been so advantageous to the asari that it would have gone along way to restoring her damaged reputation on Thessia.

"Implications unsettling." Jarun Tolan spoke without looking up from his omitool. "Monetary reparations agreed, recognition of territory agreed, including new systems and renouncing of Citadel claims to cluster humans designate Zodaic Group." The orange text of the agreement so far scrolled passed as high speed as the salarian councillor searched for anything that might have caused such a sudden problem.

"Permission to open diplomatic relations with Citadel member species agreed, permission to open relays leading to Citadel space agreed, permission to apply for Citadel Alliance membership agreed, signing of Treaty of Farixen agreed. Nothing reasonable left to cause issue, conclusion unpleasant."

As Councillor Tolan breathed deeply the door opened and Matriarch Benezia swept in.

"Councillors." The veteran Matriarch greeted them all sharply, obviously having made one last attempt at reason with Ambassador Goyle.

"Matriarch." Councillor Oraka was the one to answer her while Councillor Tevos pressed a firm mug of tea from her personal supply into her fellow Matriarchs twitching hand. "We thought everything had been agreed, the humans have been remarkably restrained in their demands showing an awareness of how weak their position is. Or at least we thought that it showed an awareness of that, what's gone wrong?"

"The trial of the Third Patrol Fleet's banner officers." Matriarch Benezia responded tersely.

"Unsure of cause of complication? Trial of banner officers a certainty from the very beginning. Surely humans not demanding summary executions? Or verdicts agreed before trial takes place? Human legal system does not allow for such." Councillor Tolan muttered to himself and the others as Matriarch Benezia sipped her tea and gathered her wits.

"No, they want a free and fair trial." She answered stealing herself for the inevitable explosion. "But they want them tried by human judges and under human law."

There was dead silence in the soundproofed meeting room for several moments before Corinthus Oraka erupted. "NO! NO! A THOUSAND TIMES NO!"

Councillor Tevos reached behind her and massaged the tails of her crest firmly, portraying frustration as a human would by massaging their brow. "Oraka we knew they would have to be tried…"

"BY TURIANS!" Councillor Oraka roared before struggling to calm himself down. "Tried by turians, or at least by Citadel judges. Letting this backwards race from the middle of nowhere that have only been on the galactic stage for 5 minutes impose their law on a turian admiral? No, its too much."

The outrage pouring off their turian counterpart left the occupants of the private meeting room in no doubt that he wasn't going to budge.

"I did try to explain this to the humans." Matriarch Benezia stated exhaustedly. "But they are not budging, they refuse to allow 'the guilty to try themselves' was how Ambassador Goyle put it."

"We cannot agree to it." Councillor Tevos agreed, knowing that to do so would be to push Councillor Oraka and the Turian Hierarchy too far. "What options do we have? I don't believe any of us think that we can restart the war over this, asari and salarian public opinion will never stand for it."

Councillor Tolan was looking between Tevos and Oraka swiftly, clearly contemplating something. After a moment he ignored Oraka completely and spoke to his asari counterpart. "Compromise still possible. Agree to let humans judge banner officers, but must agree to do so under turian law."

Councillor Oraka looked at his salarian counterpart, stunned, before swiftly turning towards the two asari. "Tevos, please, you can't possibly be considering this."

Councillor Tevos stared at Oraka, running scenarios through her head. Tolan's proposal was just enough to cut the legs out from under any turian response, if the banner officers were judged under turian law then they would scream and bluster, but the insult wouldn't be grave enough for the turians to actually do anything.

On the other hand, if they denied the human demand in its entirety, they were much more likely to walk away from the entire peace negotiations. Oh, they wouldn't restart the war, but they could conceivably sit behind their relays, relying on public opinion and galaxy wide commitments to protect them from any military action on the Citadel's part as they built up their industry, population and military, all while seething for revenge.

"Offer the comprise to the humans."

The three other occupants stood silently as Councillor Oraka stormed out of the room, outrage and betrayal marring his features.

"I will do so now Matriarch." Matriarch Benezia replied softly as she too left the room.

The asari and salarian councillors stared at each other for some time, saying nothing, waiting for the other to break.

"Oraka will not forget this, will cause trouble for us in future." Councillor Tolan broke first and voiced his concerns.

"Then in the future I will worry, now we just need this dam peace treaty signed. Then we can finally begin to move on from this whole debacle. The humans can be mellowed via the ascension process, but we have to have peace with them first." Councillor Tevos stated simply.

"Careful of extrapolations from minimal data Tevos. Sure asari predecessor said the same about mellowing batarians via ascension process." Councillor Tolan got the satisfaction of a flicker of anger on Tevos's face as he too left, leaving the asari councillor alone and suddenly less confident than she had been only moments before.

* * *

 **Vancouver – Earth**

 **2113.02.26**

* * *

Macen Arterius was awoken by one of his guards' batons slamming into the door of his cell. "Arterius, back against the wall. You have a visitor."

The turian admiral stepped back against the bare concrete wall. His cell was comfortable enough, certainly better than a turian one that would have been holding someone facing the charges he was. The door opened admitting a volus, then slammed shut.

Admiral Arterius looked dumfounded at his visitor for so long he almost forgot proper protocol. "SIR!" Fortunately he had snapped to attention and saluted before Doran Olar, ambassador of the Vol Protectorate to the Citadel Council, had to suffer the indignity of announcing himself.

Several turians would have never extended such a courtesy to their client race, but Macen was of the opinion that that relationship went both ways. Without the volus running the turian economy and their huge financial contribution to the Hierarchy the Hierarchy would have collapsed long ago. Or at least it would not be able to field anything like the fleets it did today, that meant that the volus ambassador was entitled to as much respect as a turian ambassador was in his opinion.

"At ease." Ambassador Olar replied, gesturing for Admiral Arterius to sit on the bed once again as he approached. The ambassador set up a small device that no doubt served to jam the human monitoring equipment before he began to speak. "You are aware of the *Hiss* state of your trial Admiral?"

Macen Arterius looked down in shame that the Ambassador still referred to him by the title he had disgraced with his actions. "I am Ambassador, I will be judged by a panel of human judges, but under turian law. Our own ambassador explained it to me so, with the greatest respect sir, what are you doing here?"

The volus ambassador stared at him for a long time, Macen clearly understood he was being judged. "You seem penitent *hiss* Admiral. Not what I expected, given your *hiss* actions."

Admiral Arterius looked up at the ceiling, raising his head in shame and exposing his throat. "If I were looking at my actions as you were Ambassador, I would think the same. I can offer no defence except that each small step seemed justified at the time. I am simply glad that the Citadel has managed to salvage my mistakes."

"They have not. *hiss* They have misjudged the humans."

The Admiral felt horror spreading through is body once again. "Ambassador?"

"What will happen to you *hiss* under turian law?"

"I will be found guilty; the rest of my officers will be acquitted as they were only following orders. As I did not directly disobey my orders I will be found guilty of wilfully misinterpreting orders and unauthorised use of Hierarchy fleet assets. General Sparatus will be posthumously found guilty of the same. I will be dishonourably discharged from the navy and banned from all future government posts, military or civilian, left to live in shame as a trader or cleaner or some other spirts forsaken role."

The Admiral swallowed uncomfortably, aware that he had just insulted a race of traders but ploughed on. "My clan will suffer the shame for generations, even if they reach high office the stain of my actions will follow them, tainting all they have achieved."

The Admiral trailed off as he once again was confronted with the consequences of his actions. For several minuets the cell was filled only with the sound of Doran Olar's breathing.

"It will not be enough." The statement from the volus ambassador was short and to the point.

"I don't understand Ambassador?" Admiral Arterius stammered. "My eternal shame, the effect on my clan, how could the humans demand anything more?"

The volus ambassador handed over a file on an entertainment system. "Contrary to our esteemed Council race *hiss* friends. When the volus wish to learn about a new *hiss* race and their potential markets. We *hiss* watch their entertainment, it reveals so *hiss* much more about a people than dry analysis does. I suggest *hiss* that you watch this, I will return *hiss* soon."

As the volus reclaimed his jammer and left the cell Admiral Arterius looked at the single entertainment file loaded on to the device. It had turian subtitles and its title stared out at him, waiting to be unpaused and reveal whatever the volus ambassador thought was so important about the humans.

Reaching out the Admiral hit play, and the title screen appeared – Murder on the Orient Express.

The film had been over for an hour when Ambassador Olar re-entered the cell. Admiral Arterius looked over to the volus. "So much energy, resources, emotions and time. Invested by so many people, all to avenge the death of one person, so long ago."

"You see now how strongly, *hiss* and how closely, humans hold their *hiss* families. Thousands died in your *hiss* attack on Shanxi. The humans don't want shame, they want *hiss* blood."

The disgraced turian could only agree with the volus ambassador. "My trial is supposed to give the humans satisfaction. When they see my sentence, that their own judges were forced to punish me in a way that their culture considers so light, it will poison almost every human alive against the Hierarchy, perhaps even against the Citadel. Have you told the Council this Ambassador?"

"The Council *hiss* prefers the wisdom of its asari Matriarchs. They have *hiss* no time for pitiful entertainment. The humans will have their trial *hiss* and the Matriarchs believe that that will be enough." The anger at being ignored and the disaster that was fast approaching was clear in Doran Olar's voice.

Admiral Arterius felt despair before a sudden realisation slammed into his brain. "You're not here to just rub my mandibles in my failure. You're not on the Citadel accepting the disaster, so you must have a plan to avoid this catastrophe without the Council's help. But you'd only come here if you needed me."

Macen Arterius stood and came to attention, pride and purpose flowing through him once again. "How can I help you Ambassador Olar?"

* * *

 **Timeline Changes So Far**

 _First colony on mars: 27 years earlier than cannon_

 _Discovery of Prothean ruins: 64 years earlier than cannon_

 _Founding of the Systems Alliance (council of nations version): 63 years earlier than cannon_

 _First Contact War: 45 years earlier than cannon_


	20. Chapter 20

_Standard disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect, nor any other content that you recognise. Some characters and systems are original creations. I am receiving no money for my work._

* * *

 **Geneva – Earth**

 **2113.02.28**

* * *

The council chamber in the palais des nations in Geneva was packed. Nearly two centuries ago, this room had been built to hold the council of the League of Nations, humanities first attempt at coming together to solve common problems peacefully.

Today; 12 judges sat on the bench, and the banner officers of the turian 3rd Patrol Fleet - minus their admiral - stood before them. The banner officers of the attached legion, minus General Sparatus who had been killed in action, were scheduled to be tried a week after the fleet officers.

All activity in the room stilled as the doors opened and Macen Arterius was brought forward to the hastily constructed prisoners dock. He wore the Alliance's garb of a military prisoner, an orange jumpsuit, but he was not restrained. The Alliance diplomatic corps had insisted on that as the turians were apocalyptic already, there was no need to antagonise them further with something that would only be for show.

The disgraced Admiral took this place in the dock, but it was not him that caused the confused muttering to echo around the chamber. It was the Volus that entered the chamber at his side.

After consulting with his aide for a moment the chief justice, Yong Pung How, spoke up. "Ambassador Doran Olar, it is an honour to have the most senior of the Vol Protectorate's ambassadors with us today. However, I have to ask why you have accompanied the accused?"

"Greetings Earth-Clan." Ambassador Olar wheezed. "I apologise for the *hiss* confusion. I am present because Admiral Arterius has chosen me to be his defence *hiss* counsel. As is his right under human, turian and *hiss* citadel law.

"I object! Ambassador Olar is only qualified in financial law! He is not qualified to conduct a criminal defence!" Advocate Actus, the turian defence lawyer, was in shock. But the remainder of the fleets banner officers looked knowingly at their Admiral, he only nodded at them.

"The agreement signed with the Turian *hiss* Hierarchy and the Citadel Council to allow this trial to take *hiss* place, states only that the defence counsel must be qualified in both turian and *hiss* citadel law. It does not state what type of turian and citadel law that must *hiss* be, Palaven-Clan." Ambassador Olar replied smugly.

"That is not…." Actus attempted to object but was cut off by Yong Pung How.

"Whether such a qualification was implied or not does not matter in this case. The agreement states only that the defence counsel must be qualified in turian and citadel law, I think that the tradition of being allowed to choose your own defence – found in all three legal traditions – takes precedent over anything in this matter that was not explicitly stated in the agreement." The Singaporean chief justice looked questioningly at his fellow judges as he answered Advocate Actus, one by one they indicated their support.

"But…"

"Your Excellency, myself and Banner Captain Kuril request that Doran Olar act as our defence counsel as well." Solona Kandros spoke up confidently, staring her Admiral in the eye. Ambassador Olar had visited both of them in their cells after he had visited the Admiral. Beside her, Nyreen Kuril stood resolute with her colleague.

They knew what their Admiral had planned and they were not going to let him do it alone. Neither woman had abandoned him during the debacle that had led to this trial, they were not going to abandon him now the consequences were coming home to roost. "I believe Adrien Nyx would wish to stand with us as well, were he still here."

The judges consulted each other for a moment before Chief Justice Yong announced their decision. "Both you and the Banner Captain have the right to choose your own representation Superior Captain. The situation is more complex in the case of Superior Captain Nyx, as he is being tried posthumously due to his death in battle with Admiral Drescher. However, if the two of you, his rank equivalents, colleagues and friends believe that he would wish to join you in your defence, then we shall allow it."

He turned to the Hierarchy appointed Actus. "Thank you for your service Advocate Actus, you will be recalled when the banner officers of the army are due for trial. We will expect to be notified well in advance if they wish to change their defence counsel from the currently stated ones."

Actus looked to be about to argue, but, finally, he reigned in his indignation and withdrew to the public gallery.

The trial began before the press corps could even report on the sudden change.

"Admiral Macen Arterius, Superior Captain Solona Kandros, Banner Captain Kuril, you and Superior Captain Adrien Nyx are all charged with disobeying orders, the relevant breaches of first contact protocols and treaties, and the misuse of Hierarchy fleet assets. How do you plead?"

"On behalf of all of my clients your *hiss* excellency, I plead guilty as charged." The public galleries of the court erupted, but the Volus ambassador wasn't finished. "In addition, all of my *hiss* clients wish to be tried under human law, not *hiss* turian."

"Admiral, Captains." Yong Pung How stated once he had regained control of the court. "As much as I do not wish to impinge the honour of Ambassador Olar, this is a drastic change from the agreement your government has negotiated on your behalf. I feel compelled to ask if all three of you are acting of your own free will?"

There was no need to assure the turian banner officers that they would be safe from retribution if they were being coerced, the human staff assigned to protect them from any 'accidents', whether those 'accidents' had human or turian origins, had made that repeatedly clear since they had arrived on Earth.

"We are your excellency." Admiral Arterius replied firmly, as if he was still standing in the banner CIC of _Enforcer_. "We feel that as our actions affected humans the most, we should be tried under human law."

"You are aware that your sentencing must still be turian? Regardless of our method of establishing guilt or blame, the agreement between the Systems Alliance and the Turian Hierarchy is explicit on that point, and the precedent of personal choice and dual legal jurisdictions does not override it."

"We understand." Admiral Arterius replied confidently to the shock of the judges.

"Ambassador Olar, will your clients not offer any defence at all?" Chief Justice Yong asked in astonishment.

"The only defence my *hiss* clients wish to offer are the records and logs already submitted. They are *hiss* a true and accurate record of what transpired, and my clients do not wish to *hiss* use any legal trickery to escape the consequences of their actions." Ambassador Olar's pronouncement made all three turian officers stand at attention, resolutely facing down the human judges and more importantly, the watching human public.

"Then we will withdraw to deliberate." Yong Pung How stated simply. The court rose as the judges left the chamber but the turian officers did not waver. The reporters ran out of the room, frantically trying to update their networks but be able to return at a moments notice for the verdicts and sentencing.

Two hours later the judges returned stone faced. The rest of the people in the court were seated, only the three banner officers remained standing as the tension was so thick it could almost have been cut with a knife.

"Banner Captain Kuril." Chief Justice Yong delivered the verdict of the court for the most junior officer first. "This court has reached its verdict. You were the only member of the banner officers who raised any objections to the actions of the Third Patrol Fleet, going as far as to request that the Admiral clarify his orders."

"While this would not normally acquit you under human law, falling below the minimum level of action required when a solider receives an illegal order, this court recognises that in turian culture it was a grave action, far above and beyond what could be reasonably expected for a turian. As such this court rejects your guilty plea on all counts, you are free to go without a stain on your character."

Cries of 'SHAME' and 'TRAITORS' erupted from the public gallery as those present screamed at the judges, wanting blood in return for all of the deaths that had befallen friends and family. As the court wardens attempted to restore order, Nyreen Kuril practically collapsed into her seat from relief despite the rolling wave of abuse calling for her head.

As the crowd quietened, Yong Pung How addressed the second officer. "Superior Captain Kandros, both yourself and Superior Captain Nyx raised no objections at all to the orders you received. As such, were you human you would be found guilty of disobeying orders. However; while we are judging you under human law, we have made allowances for turian culture, taking into account that we cannot expect you to act as a human would in that situation."

"As such, this court finds you not guilty of disobeying orders, but we do find you guilty of the lesser charge of wilfully misinterpreting orders and being complicit in the misuse of Hierarchy fleet assets. The turian sentence for such actions is clear. You will be dishonourably discharged from the navy, stripped of all awards and commendations, and be banned from all government posts, military or civilian, for the rest of your natural life.

Solona Kandros also collapsed into her seat, but unlike Nyreen Kuril it wasn't from relief. Her mind was filled only with the shame she had brought on all of her clan, and how hard they were going to have to fight to remove the stain of her actions from their collective honour.

The public gallery muttered, unsatisfied, but at least this time they weren't actively screaming at the judges. There was little doubt however, that if the same verdict and sentence was handed down to Admiral Arterius all of them would feel cheated and furious. Just as Ambassador Olar had predicted.

The Chief Justice turned finally to Admiral Arterius as the chamber collectively held its breath. "Admiral Arterius. This court may have seen its way to leniency if you had taken the first opportunity to halt your illegal attack and take responsibility for your actions, namely once you had engaged Commodore Lala Hansa in battle and had irrefutable proof that you were engaged in an illegal conflict. However, you did not."

"Instead you knowingly and willingly disobeyed the treaties and orders issued by the Turian Hierarchy and the Citadel Council for first contact situations, in addition to disobeying the orders to report any change in status with your fleet before engaging in military activity outside of your assigned patrol area. Orders crafted specifically to prevent unauthorised conflicts such as this from occurring. As such this court finds you guilty of disobeying orders and the misuse of Hierarchy fleet assets."

The court erupted in cheers as the verdict was read out. Across Citadel Space asari reacted with shock to such a blatant display of bloodlust, and turians with rage that the humans would dare to judge one of their own. The other races however, generally approved of the verdict, seeing it as fair.

When the court had settled Yong Pung How continued. "Macen Arterius. Human law has no death penalty, however, as stated at the beginning of the trial we can only sentence you under turian law. As such there is only one sentence that we can impose on you. Death."

Admiral Arterius stood at attention, refusing to flinch at the verdict he knew was coming since Doran Olar had first explained his plan to him. This was his penance, his sacrifice to the humans would sate their thirst for vengeance and allow them to begin to heal and integrate into the galactic community, however slow or painful that would be.

The Chief Justice continued to speak over the wild cheers. "However, while we will honour the agreement and impose the turian penalty of death despite its illegality under human law, we refuse to countenance your death by spacing as turian law demands. We find it to be in violation of the Geneva Convention's protection from inhumane treatment, and not even interspecies diplomacy will force us to violate that great bastion of protection."

"As such, instead of returning to your flagship to be but to death by spacing, you will instead be taken from this place to a place of execution, where you will be put to death by firing squad. The pre-abolition method of executing human military personnel."

"I understand and thank you for your mercy, your excellency." Admiral Arterius stated simply, also speaking over the still celebrating crowd while looking over at his two banner officers for the last time. They stood and saluted as he was led away and back to the cells. Ambassador Olar watched him go. Respect and regret warring on his face, hidden behind his environmental suit. Hoping fervently that the Admiral's sacrifice had been enough.

* * *

 **Vancouver – Earth**

 **2113.03.02**

* * *

Rajendra Tharoor took his seat at the head of what had once been the Alliance Security Council meeting table. Now it hosted the new Cabinet of the Systems Alliance.

Thankfully for all involved, there had been academic exercises and pressure groups designing a constitution for the Systems Alliance for some time, hoping at some point in the future they might reach a critical mass and be able to transform the Alliance. That day had arrived sooner than anyone had anticipated.

Needing to form a functioning government at the same time as creating the new constitution, the Constitutional Assembly had simply selected the academic's plan that was most agreeable to them as a whole and set up a provisional government to operate in the manner that the plan said it should. Whilst the provisional government was dealing with the day to day of running the Systems Alliance, the Constitutional Assembly was going through the constitutional plan they were using line by line; accepting, modifying, or out right rejecting and replacing each section of it one after the other.

Whilst progress through the plan was slow and altering the provisional government's power and responsibilities on a day to day basis was confusing, this muddling through had worked surprisingly well so far and was proving a great help in getting the government up and running so quickly.

The first main point decided was the Systems Alliance was going to be a parliamentary democracy, rather than a presidential republic. As such it needed a Prime Minister, and Rajendra Tharoor and swiftly won the backing of a majority of the Constitutional Assembly delegates.

Of equal importance, it was also decided that the Systems Alliance was to be a social democracy. Ie: It would support economic and social interventions to promote social justice within the framework of a capitalist economy and a multi-party liberal democratic political system. Unusually for Alliance governmental development so far this was not a compromise, rather it was the preferred ideology of the vast majority of its members.

Although given that currently India dominated the Alliance's population and the European Union its economy, the choice to take the social democratic route was perhaps less surprising than most commentators made it out to be.

Those few delegates that had favoured a democratic socialist state (a multi-party democratic system combined with a collectively owned and government run economy) or a laissez-faire capitalist state (a multi-party democratic system combined with an unregulated capitalist economy) were heavily outvoted.

The other 13 members of the SA Cabinet filed in as they had done several times over the last few weeks. Finally though, things were beginning to move forwards at an ever increasing pace. Prime Minister Tharoor began the meeting. "Well. While I'm sure the Foreign Secretary would love to regale us with just how much of a cluster fuck the turian navy officer's trial turned out to be diplomatically, I think we can all take it as read that the turians have gone postal, the asari are horrified, the salarians are thinking Shiva only knows what and the rest of known space is simultaneously pleased to see the turians brought down a peg, and terrified that we dared to actually do it."

"That about sums it up." The haggard and tired Foreign Secretary moaned forlornly. "I would ask if we had to follow through with the executions, but I realise that domestically we have backed ourselves well and truly into a corner. We simply have to do damage control with the other races now, I've got the entire diplomatic corps working on it."

"Good." The PM nodded. "So, we can move on to the security briefing first and then the first item on the agenda. Defence, if you would?"

The Minister of Defence summarised the contents of his data pad. "Not much has changed since we last spoke. The blockades of the American colonies of Destiny and Freedom are in place and haven't been seriously challenged, in addition only a few warships with majority American or Chinese crews are still refusing to surrender. We estimate less than 10 have turned pirate so we expect the remainder to follow their fellows' example and surrender in return for repatriation soon."

"There is mild unrest on the three former Chinese colonies, now the Celestial Peoples Republic, but the new government there seems to have it under control. The unrest has been mostly confined to Elysium and Guangxi with almost none on Shanxi, which is to be expected seeing as their former rulers left that particular colony to die."

"Speaking of which, the Shanxi garrison has been rotated home and fully replaced. We've sent all of the survivors who don't require intensive medical care to a couple of military bases in rural Thailand, where they can receive proper mental health treatment given the appalling shit they went through." The Minister of Health interjected.

The Prime Minister nodded, making a note on his pad to recognise the whole garrison for bravery as well as any specific individuals that emerged. He motioned to the Minister of Defence to continue speaking.

"We have secured the last of the orbital shipyards that were under Chinese and American control, thankfully their food stores were nowhere near as extensive as our warships stores are, but our scouts have not found either nations black project shipyard yet. There has been a significant increase in piracy around Destiny and Freedom and the Celestial Peoples Republic, which is undoubtedly the American and Chinese warship squadrons that were constructed in violation of the Treaty of Mars."

"Thankfully it seems that a squadron or two each is all they constructed, the whispers of massive nationally controlled fleets hiding in interstellar space have thankfully turned out to be unfounded. Hopefully when they try and ramp up construction and repair operations at the secret locations, their returning raiding squadrons and expanding supply chains will lead us right to them." The Minister of Defence finished the security briefing.

Thank you Minister. Prime Minister Tharoor stated, looking forlornly at the long list of notes on his pad. "Foreign Secretary, what's going on with our application to join the Citadel as an Associate Race?"

The Foreign Secretary cleared their throat and spoke again. "The Citadel has agreed to it in principle, indeed the asari seem to be very eager. I have it through unofficial channels that we could set a new record for the ascension process and become a Citadel Associate Race in only 8 years."

A silence born of sheer disbelief settled over the cabinet room.

"What was the previous record?" The Minister of Culture asked suspiciously.

"A century, a record held by the Batarian Hegemony." The Minister of Education replied.

"Then it's a huge opportunity! At last these aliens are recognising our worth." The Minister of Heath exclaimed to exited murmurings from several of his colleagues and the speculative glance of the Prime Minister. Actually having humanities superiority, in economic and military terms at least, to the existing Citadel Associate Races recognised would be a huge boon to the Alliance's domestic political spin, and give all of the Cabinet a large chunk of political capital to spend on several of the problems that they were currently playing whack-a-mole with.

"No. It's a trap." The Foreign Secretary deadpanned. The Chancellor of the Treasury, the Minister of Industry and the Minister of Work and Pensions all nodded in agreement.

"Explain." Prime Minister Tharoor stated sharply. Feeling the joy of something actually going right for a change slipping out of his grasp.

"It's a multi stage trap." The Foreign Secretary began to explain. "The first stage is to bring us into conflict with the Batarian Hegemony. Now, we are more developed than the batarians were at first contact so its only proper that our ascension process should be faster, but 92 years faster? No. That's the Citadel Council giving us special favours, raising us above the other Associate Races as favoured pets. It will sit poorly with all of the existing Associate Races obviously, but it will sit especially poorly with the batarians given their strong pride and the fact we already have territorial disputes with them."

"They will rightly wonder exactly how far the Council's favouritism will stretch, and as they can't do anything to the Council Races they will take it out on us. We will then be forced to spend resources and political capital we can ill afford to lose countering them."

"I see that Ambassador Goyle's warnings about the asari trying to lock us and the batarians into a cold war were far more realistic than I had given her credit for." The Home Secretary muttered angrily as the mood became much more sombre.

"Then we go to stage 2 of the trap." The Minister of Industry took over the explanation as the Cabinet became despondent. "The customs union and single market are integral parts of Citadel Space, indeed given time to adapt our economy to them we will thrive and expand like nothing we have ever seen before, the gains we can extract from such a large market are immense. But 8 years isn't long enough to prepare. Not even close."

"Our industries simply won't have been able to even understand modern Citadel technology in that time, let alone design, test and get proper effective products into production. As soon as we become an Associate Race, we will no longer be able to put up tariffs to protect our industry while it catches up, and virtually our entire manufacturing base will go bankrupt overnight as vastly superior Citadel products flood our domestic market."

The Minster of Defence grimaced, considering having to use Citadel manufactured products in the Alliance's warships and black projects. Just how many salarian spy programs and back doors would be hiding in each component?

"Finally, we come to stage 3 of the trap." The Minister of Work and Pensions spoke up. "With our economy in a tailspin because of the sudden death of our manufacturing industry, our remaining large companies will suffer profit collapses as they try to deal with a recession here at home, and then also compete with Citadel companies who are able to operate much more effectively and efficiently because of their better technology."

"They will franticly search for ways to save money and hit on the idea of outsourcing as much as possible to Citadel companies, as they can undercut any human company due to their better efficiently. It will keep them afloat in the short term, but each company that does that takes its business away from its fellow Alliance companies and makes the problem worse."

The Minister paused to take a swallow from his water glass as the rest of the cabinet looked at him in fascination, sickly grimaces on most of the faces. Health actually had their head in their hands. Unwilling to wait, the Chancellor of the Treasury took over. "Once all of our major companies are in serious trouble and need cash injections to stay afloat, that is when the Citadel investors will swoop in."

"Corporate mergers will make some of our companies actually part of Citadel companies directly, while the rest will become puppets when Citadel investors become majority shareholders. Our entire economy, that bit of it that survives the manufacturing collapse anyway, will suddenly be owned directly or indirectly by Citadel companies and citizens. Companies and citizens that are susceptible to pressure from their governments, essentially giving the Citadel Council a way to cripple our economy to an extent that will make the 1930's Great Depression look like a mild blip."

"They'll be able to do it whenever they dam well please, and the average citizen will never see it coming because the name above the door won't have changed, just the owner, and for anyone who doesn't interact with the stock market what do they care if it's an asari who ultimately owns the local car factory? It's still a human factory with a human name and human workers producing human cars after all, what harm could possibly be done?"

Several of the Cabinet Ministers had actually turned green as they saw the bomb that the Citadel Council was attempting to plant at the heart of the Systems Alliance economy. A bomb that could potentially do more damage than the entire turian fleet, at least they would be able to shoot back at the turian warships.

"Well." The Minister of the Environment choked out. "It would seem that we are causing the Citadel Races great concern."

"GREAT CONCERN?!" The Minister of Sapient Rights exploded. "They're trying to turn us into a colony and you're excusing their behaviour!?"

"Not excusing." The Minister of Transport shot back hotly, defending their colleague. "Explaining, we worry them. They wouldn't go to all this trouble for a race that they didn't think has the potential to turn the current balance of power on its head. Or at least severely disrupt it."

The Prime Minister ignored the bickering and spoke directly to the Chancellor, the Minister of Industry and the Minister of Work and Pensions. "How long do we need to be able to effectively compete in the Citadel marketplace? To get all of our companies up to modern Citadel standards of technology and efficiency so we can reap the benefits of this new market rather than being destroyed by it."

The three Cabinet Ministers deliberated, consulting with the Minister of Education several times. Finally, the Chancellor addressed the Prime Minister. "We believe 50 years should be sufficient, but we collectively feel that 60 years is a better target as it provides a safety margin, in case we should encounter any hiccups."

"Still 40 years faster than the batarians. That's going to cause us problems." The Chief Whip noted.

"Oh for fucks sake, continuing to breathe gives us problems with the batarians!" The Minister of Sapient Rights exclaimed exasperatedly.

"I'm inclined to agree." The Prime Minister spoke up. "If we are agreed then the Foreign Secretary should instruct the diplomatic corps and the Citadel that we will be beginning our ascension process, and that we expect it to take approximately 60 years, putting our acceptance as a Citadel Associate Race at 2172 CE. If they try to force us to go faster, we can use controlled leaks of information to bring the other Associate Race's into our corner and make it diplomatically more trouble than its worth for the Citadel Council."

There was a general murmur of agreement around the Cabinet table, several ministers were still in shock. The Foreign Secretary simply nodded, acknowledging the Cabinet's instructions.

Prime Minister Tharoor spoke again. "Moving on to the next items on the agenda. Industry, Heath, there were points you wanted to raise?"

The Minister of Heath answered first. "Yes. There are three potential pitfalls. The first is our development of medi-gel and the second our genetic research projects. Both of them fall foul of the Citadel Council's genetic engineering polices."

The Cabinet looked uneasily at each other. Humanity had, for the last century, engaged in a species wide gene therapy project. Gradually altering humanities genetic code to rid the human species of the genetic diseases that they could now, finally cure.

"I take it that our entire species is not illegal under Citadel law? The Minister of Sapient Rights asked, only half-jokingly.

The Minister of Health shook their head. "No, that's no problem. It's the genetic enhancement program for our soldiers, although it only enhances what is already present in our soldiers genetic code, making it easier for each solider to reach their maximum natural strength, it will cause a lot of concern among the Citadel, it skirts very close to full blown genetic engineering of sapient species, which they have absolutely banned due to the salarians experience with the Lystheni."

Noticing the confusion, the minister elaborated. "The Salarians had their own eugenics movement, unfortunately they had already unlocked genetic engineering by that point so…." The minister trailed off, letting the cabinet fill in the blanks.

"Are these salarian offshoots still around?" The Minister of Transport asked hesitantly dreading to think of a species with the salarians capabilities and the morals that allowed them to think that eugenics was both an actual science and a good idea.

"Yes, but they are isolated and scattered. Stuck in the terminus systems they are no danger to us. Their legacy is." The Minister of Health responded. "Basically it has left the Council very wary of adding new abilities. You can improve what is already there, curing diseases, eliminating near-sightedness, increasing muscle mass, but you can't add an entirely new ability into your genetic code. Such as giving a human the ability to digest cellulose. Now our current military genetic enhancement program doesn't do that, but it does enhance everything that is already there, and the Council will be very concerned that we might be willing to take that small, final, step."

The Cabinet was silent in contemplation for several minutes. Repairing and enhancing humans natural genetic code was one thing, altering it to introduce new abilities and produce a new type of human was quite another, and something that very few humans would support. But how could the Citadel Council trust that gut feeling of humanities leaders? Especially as they had been burned before taking such an important limit on faith, and had the super-salarian Lystheni running around as a constant reminder of that mistake.

"Well medi-gel certainly breaches that as well given its genetic manufacturing process." The Minister of Education spoke up, trying to focus on problems that they could actually solve. "So how do you intend to get around that?"

"We ask the salarians to be partners on all of our genetic research projects. Medi-gel is so useful it should be enough to bring them on board and get them to accept our civilian genetic therapy and military genetic enhancement projects as well. And as they are the biggest proponents of the genetic laws, where they go the rest of the Citadel Council will follow." Health explained the plan that had been hammered out over the preceding weeks.

"Isn't that dangerous, giving the salarians that much access to our genetic research?" The Minister of Work and Pensions asked curiously

"It's better than having no research at all. Better that we use them as human – well alien – shields against the others than have them leading the charge against us, demanding we shut everything down. Besides, it won't be too difficult to acquire a few salarians from the terminus systems. Give our researchers a few months with them and they will have all the information on the salarians genetic code they need to make sure that they understand that using genetic weaponry against us would result in mutually assured destruction."

"What?" The Minister of Defence asked defensively, confused at the looks the rest of the Cabinet were shooting their way.

"The third problem?" The Chancellor asked breaking the awkward staring match.

"Artificial Intelligence." The Minister of Industry spoke up. "Currently all of our AI research is illegal under citadel law, and before you ask no, we have no plan to deal with this. There are only three companies in the entirety of Citadel Space with special authorisation to research AI. The best we can do is put all of our research on ice when we get to the final stages of our ascension process and get on with some good old-fashioned lobbying to get at least one of our companies added to that list. Then we can pick up where we left off."

"All right let's not try and push things too far too quickly, if we do, we run the risk of uniting all of our opponents. We will focus on getting our genetic research authorised and put AI on the back burner for now." Prime Minister Tharoor was distinctly unhappy at the constraints that were being but on human technological development.

He made more notes on his pad. "Moving on to item three. Foreign Secretary, you wished to speak about a diplomatic mission to the salarians. I take it that it wasn't the proposition that the Minister of Heath just outlined?"

"No Prime Minister." The Foreign Secretary replied. "It's an initiative that has even more potential given that we have decided to make 60 years our goal for the ascension process."

The Cabinet looked on, intrigued as the Foreign Secretary continued. "It's no secret in Citadel Space that the salarians are the best researchers around. But somehow, whenever they make a breakthrough, the asari make the same breakthrough only months later. Often the asari method is better than the one the salarians have only just come up with as well, elegant, error free and refined as if they have known how to do whatever the new breakthrough is for decades."

"Whatever they try the salarians can't keep a tech advantage over the asari for more than a few months. As soon as it becomes relatively public knowledge, the asari beat the salarian breakthrough in a tiny fraction of the time it took them to research and develop it and regain the title of most advanced race in the galaxy. It's driving the salarians crazy."

"And how are we supposed to help that?" The Minister of Education asked sceptically. "We have only had access to the Prothean research base on Mars for 29 years. The Citadel species have had access to Prothean sites for millennia."

"Indeed, but the Prothean ruins on Mars are some of the most extensive technologically intact sites ever discovered. And more importantly, it seems to have been set up to be operated primarily by the non-Prothean races of the Prothean Empire, a lot of it doesn't use the direct interface system that true Protheans used that no one can figure out how to activate. Much of it uses the same physical computer interface system that you find in the lower-class areas of Prothean ruins."

"So, we were a backwater of the Prothean Empire, staffed mainly by lower class personnel. That doesn't seem to be something to be proud of." The Home Secretary muttered again.

"No, but it does mean that the information is substantially easier to access than at most of the other Prothean laboratory sites." The Minister of Education said in stunned realisation.

"No wonder we were able to advance so fast in just 29 years. We could actually interface with the Prothean databases, see their data and schematics and ask the computer database questions, almost everyone else couldn't do that because they have no idea how the Protheans interfaced with their technology, outside the Citadel itself and the lower class areas for non-true Prothean races at the other sites virtually all of the actual data was inaccessible. They had to pull the systems apart and reverse engineer them physically from scratch, one painstakingly slow step at a time."

"And as the laws stating that any Prothean technology is to be shared with all members of the Citadel don't come into force against us until we actually become a member of the Citadel….." The Minister of the Environment trailed off as a feeling of hope spread across the cabinet room for the first time.

"The salarians will pay a great deal to be the only Citadel race we allow to access the Mars ruins for the next 60 years." The Chancellor said greedily.

"Yes, they will." Prime Minister Tharoor replied. "All of you are to list ways in which salarian aid could help the Alliance with regards to your own ministries area of responsibility and submit them to me by the end of the week." Noticing the Foreign Secretary catching his eye, the Prime Minister subtly nodded and carried on. "Moving on to item 4. The First Space Lord and the First Sky Martial are here to report to us on the effectiveness of the military in the recent war."

The two military officers mentioned nodded respectfully before taking the floor.

"Prime Minister." Fleet Admiral Carmichael respectfully saluted. "Our report is in 5 parts. The performance of the navy and suggested reforms, the performance of the marines and suggested reforms, the performance of the army and suggested reforms, the state of the R&D projects started during the war, specifically with regards to updating the navy's warships, and the state of the militaries research and production capabilities with suggestions for changes in government policy."

It was not lost on Fleet Admiral Carmichael, Field Marshal Khatri, or Prime Minister Tharoor that the expressions on most of the Cabinet Ministers faces had become rather fixed.

"Perhaps we had better continue this after lunch Admiral." The Prime Minister stated to audible sounds of relief. "Please, both of you join us in the dining room below. If the members of the Inner Cabinet could remain behind, we will catch up with the rest of you shortly."

As the military officers and the rest of the Cabinet filed out, the holders of the four great offices of state remained behind.

"Well Foreign Secretary?" Prime Minister Tharoor asked.

"It is about the salarian initiative Prime Minister." The Foreign Secretary replied. "Clearly our most urgent need is to get someone to teach us how to make proper, modern warships. We simply don't have the time available to learn ourselves. We have too many enemies, several of whom are far to close to us for comfort, and without the protection of being an Associate Race the Citadel is not obligated to defend us if war breaks out."

"Getting the salarians to help is going to use up much of the credit letting them study the Mars ruins will get us." The Home Secretary acknowledged. "But I don't see another option, as you've articulated yourself, we desperately need to speed up our warship development and get something actually worthy of the dam name out of the yards and into our fleet, before the protective halo of beating a turian patrol fleet wears off."

"Indeed, and if we didn't have another option I would agree with you wholeheartedly. But we do have an option, or a possibility at least." The other three Inner Cabinet members looked up sharply at the Foreign Secretary's declaration. "Ambassador Goyle believes that with one ambassadorial ship, an escort squadron, £820 million credits and three weeks she can at least take the first steps to solving our warship development program's problems. Freeing up our potential credit with the salarians to be used on other matters."

The other members of the Inner Cabinet crowded around closely, intensely interested in anything that might stretch their incredibly limited foreign political capital a bit further. The Foreign Secretary placed an encrypted chip onto the holoprojector in the centre of the table and a schematic and pages of analysis from Ambassador Goyle appeared above it, glowing softly in front of them as they absorbed the data.

"Prime Minister; this is Project Eidolon."

* * *

 _Codex Entry: The Government of the Systems Alliance – The Executive_

 _(Citadel Codex, First Human SPECTRE Collector's Edition, 2183)_

* * *

 _The executive of the Systems Alliance is made up of the head of government, known as the Prime Minister, and their Cabinet. Some limited emergency powers are given to the head of state, but they are not sufficient to merit their official inclusion in the executive. The Cabinet of the Systems Alliance is made up of the heads of the various departments of the SA government._

 _Though it would be disingenuous to say that the Prime Minister is merely first among equals (not least because they appoint all of the other Cabinet Ministers) executive power is vested in the hands of the Cabinet as a whole, not the Prime Minister alone as is the case with presidential republic governments such as the USA. The Systems Alliance Cabinet has 14 members. Only 4 of those members may be non-MPs (Members of Parliament) and each of those non-MP members must be confirmed by the Grand Assembly._

 _The four great offices of state can never be held by a non-MP._

 _The records of the Cabinet's meetings are kept secret for 50 years to allow for debate without fear of political damage whilst recording the history of how the Alliance came to its decisions. In its meetings all of the Cabinet Ministers will debate the course of action that the Prime Minister wishes to take._

 _Once a course of action has been agreed upon and voted for by a majority of members, all of the Cabinet Ministers are duty bound to defend and promote the course of action, whether they believe in it or not, whether they voted for it or not. Under this protocol known as collective responsibility, if a Cabinet Minister feels that they cannot defend the policy that the Cabinet has agreed on, they must resign their position._

 _If the Prime Minister fails to persuade the Cabinet to back their policy then the policy is dead, and the political power of the Prime Minister will have taken a damaging - sometimes fatal - hit._

 _ **THE INNER CABINET:**_

 _Consisting of the 4 great offices of state, the Inner Cabinet is vested with most of the emergency executive powers, such as responding to declarations of war and deploying soldiers in cases where seconds matter._

 _To prevent an overmighty executive, it was decided that none of the emergency powers could be used by the Prime Minister without the consent of two of the other three great offices of state. All of these offices must be held by MPs._

 _ **The Prime Minister (PM):**_ _Leader of the Alliance Federal Government. This office is held by the party leader that can command the confidence of the Grand Assembly. As all Alliance governments have been coalitions, this is not always the leader of the largest party in the Grand Assembly._

 _In addition to this the Prime Minister is officially the head of the Cabinet Office, dealing with the part of the Civil Service that directly serves the Cabinet. In practice this responsibility is often entirely delegated to the department's chief bureaucrat._

 _ ***Deputy Prime Minister:**_ _This title is given to the leader of the junior party in the coalition government. As a fellow party leader, should the Prime Minister be unavailable or incapacitated the Deputy Prime Minister takes the head of government position in their place._

 _As such the Deputy PM will always be one of the other three great secretaries of state (Chancellor, Foreign Secretary or Home Secretary)_

 _ **The Chancellor of the Treasury (Chancellor):**_ _This minister heads the Treasury Office and is responsible for all the economic and financial powers of the Federal Government._

 _It is effectively the second most powerful position in the government as it has the largest say in the creation of the budget, as such is often filled by the Deputy Prime Minister unless, for political reasons, the junior coalition party leader does not wish to be so closely associated with the governments financial and economic policies._

 _ **The Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (Foreign Secretary):**_ _This minister heads the Foreign Office and is responsible for the diplomatic corps and relations with foreign (alien) governments. They also hold ministerial oversight of the Alliance's external intelligence agency._

 _ **The Secretary of State for Home Affairs (Home Secretary):**_ _This minister heads the Home Office and is responsible for the internal affairs of the Systems Alliance including immigration and customs enforcement, Alliance wide criminal policies, federal law enforcement (the Federal Crimes Directorate, federal courts and federal prisons), sector wide and above disaster response efforts, and the Sector Guards._

 _They also hold ministerial oversight of the Alliance's codebreaking and communications agency and the Alliance's internal intelligence agency._

 _ **THE WAR CABIENT:**_

 _Convened in times of war to direct the war effort in full knowledge of classified information that is too sensitive to reveal to the full Cabinet, the War Cabinet consists of the Inner Cabinet and two additional Cabinet Ministers._

 _It should be noted that only the four great secretaries of state are styled as secretaries; despite their official titles being 'secretary of state' the other department heads are known simply as ministers (due to their departments being known as 'Ministry' rather than 'Office') to differentiate them from the great four and the additional responsibilities that those posts hold._

 _While it is not against the constitution for a non-MP to hold either of these offices, it is considered very bad form for them to do so._

 _ **The Secretary of State for Defence (Minister of Defence):**_ _This minister heads the Ministry of Defence and has responsibility for the armed forces of the Systems Alliance, the civilian bureaucracy that allows them to function, the nationally owned parts of the defence industry and the veterans services._

 _ **The Secretary of State for Energy and Industry (Minister of Industry):**_ _This minister heads the Ministry of Energy and Industry and is responsible for the Alliance wide industrial and energy strategies and implementation. They are also responsible for state owned factories, energy plants, shipyards and other production sites that do not fall under military jurisdiction._

 _Though a miniscule fraction of the Alliance's industrial output, they form a vital part of the Alliance governments social democratic policies, keeping the private corporations honest. This minister also negotiates with the Confederation of Alliance Industry in the event of an Alliance wide industrial dispute._

 _The Alliance's communications infrastructure is also the responsibility of this minister due to its effect on industrial productivity and remote working in peacetime and its vital co-ordinating role in wartime._

 _*In the unlikely event that the government is a 3 party coalition, the leader of the smallest party will hold one of these positions so that they will still be able to represent their party in the government in a time of war._

 _As only two governments have been 3 party coalitions, and in both of those the 3_ _rd_ _party was significantly smaller than the other two, tradition has been set that they do not need to be a member of the Inner Cabinet._

 _ **THE OUTER CABINET:**_

 _Consisting of the remaining 8 Cabinet Ministers these are the aspects of the Alliance Federal Government that, while important, take a backseat in wartime. Up to 4 Cabinet Ministers may be non-MPs proposed by the Prime Minister and confirmed by the Grand Assembly, due to the immense benefit an industry specialist can bring to a ministry, these 4 slots are often used to fill the Health, Education, Environment and Sapient rights slots._

 _ **Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Minister of Health):**_ _This minister heads the Ministry of Health and Social Care and is responsible both for deciding the Alliance wide physical and mental health and social care policies, and for ensuring that the Cluster Assemblies adequately provide these minimum requirements. They are also responsible for state run medical research labs and state sponsored medical research funding distribution._

 _ **Secretary of State for Education, Innovation and Skills (Minister of Education):**_ _This minister heads the Ministry of Education and is responsible for core curriculum of the Systems Alliance's pre-18 education system and ensuring that the Cluster Assemblies deliver this minimum level of federally mandated education._

 _They are also responsible for post 18 education both in the provision of apprenticeship places and university places, both of which are under federal jurisdiction. They are also responsible for state run research facilities, state sponsored research funding distribution and state sponsored business start-up programmes in close cooperation with the Minister of Industry._

 _ **Secretary of State for Work and Pensions: (Minister of Work and Pensions):**_ _This minister heads the Ministry of Work and Pensions and is responsible for the provision of the federal state pension and other retirement benefits._

 _They are also responsible for childcare, parental leave, labour protection and social security policy, ensuring that the Cluster Assemblies adequately provide services to meet the minimum provision dictated by Alliance wide policies. They also negotiate with the Trade Union Congress in the event of an Alliance wide labour dispute._

 _ **Secretary of State for Environment and Agriculture (Minister of the Environment):**_ _This minister heads the Ministry of the Environment and is responsible for the environmental and agricultural policies of the Systems Alliance, along with ensuring that the Cluster Assemblies meet the minimum protections that these policies set._

 _They are also responsible for overseeing the terraforming processes ongoing on dome colony worlds, creating and maintaining the Alliance's national parks, and maintaining the emergency food stockpiles sufficient to prevent starvation of civilian populations in the event of shipping disruption from unexpected warfare._

 _ **Secretary of State for Sapient Rights and Cluster Government (Minister of Sapient Rights):**_ _This minister heads the Ministry of Sapient Rights and is responsible for the protection of minorities and the sapient rights of all residents of the Systems Alliance. This is done by ensuring that the Cluster Assemblies all meet the minimum protections enforced by the Systems Alliance Declaration of Universal Sapient Rights._

 _They are also responsible for developing the Alliance wide policies to enforce the rights enshrined in the declaration. Their final responsibility is to mediate between Cluster Assemblies when they are in dispute and to carry out the same ceremonial and mediation duties for the Cluster Assemblies that the head of state does for the SA Parliament._

 _ **Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Minister of Culture):**_ _This minister heads the Ministry of Culture, Media and Sport and is responsible for regulation of Alliance wide sports leagues, federal museums and art galleries, the locations on and maintenance of the Alliance Heritage Site list, and finally holds the nominal responsibility for the state owned but independently run broadcaster; the Alliance Broadcasting Corporation (ABC)._

 _ **Secretary of State for Transport (Minister of Transport):**_ _This minister is responsible for the Alliance wide public transport policy and for those areas of public transport under direct government control. They also have responsibility for the laws and policies governing business owned cargo and leisure ships throughout Alliance space._

 _The merchant marine is the name given to the emergency nationalisation in wartime of all Alliance registered civilian shipping, this force is then placed under the Minister of Transport as they are civilians. However; the minister will, in practice, often take orders from the Minister of Defence and the Admiralty so as to best use the merchant marine to support the Alliance war effort._

 _ **The Chief Whip:**_ _This is the minister responsible for keeping all of the governing party's MPs in line using persuasion, bribery, threats and any other means they deem appropriate. Their first duty is ensuring that the governments MPs actually show up to vote, and then – more importantly – that they vote they way their party leader tells them too._

 _They are also tasked as acting as a filter for the party's concerns, dealing with small problems and keeping any general low-level complaints from bothering the party leadership and the Cabinet. Simultaneously they must also keep the leadership aware of any problems that have the potential to grow into major rebellions, preferably before they erupt in the press._

 _All parties have a different threshold of independent action by their MPs that they are willing to tolerate. Some of the more conservative or left-wing parties insist their MPs follow the leadership with little independent action allowed, as such large-scale rebellions are very rare. More liberal parties' chief whips have been known to openly despair, exclaiming that trying to keep their own MPs in line is like heading cats, while looking fondly across the chamber at their opponents disciplined, if unimaginative, political troops._

* * *

Sorry to end it there but when this chapter flew passed 9,000 words, with no end in sight I thought it might be better to split it into two bits and give you the completed part now, rather than having you guys wait several more weeks for one super chapter. Those who enjoy military theory rest assured we will see the mentioned Space Lord's and Sky Marshals analysis in the next chapter, the navy and army made mistakes despite winning the war and they have challenges to overcome.

Plus, I just read another three books on defence in depth and combined arms warfare to celebrate the 100 year anniversary of the end of World War One, so there are several things I want to include.

*8 years is the canon length of the SA's Ascension Process, which as I pointed out above, is about as ridiculous as having a species that has only known about the mass effect for 9 years be able to go toe to toe with the millennia old Turian Hierarchy.

The ME writers story is brilliant, but their timescale is terrible. Reverse engineering and getting into production a simple 1st generation warship would be a challenge on that timescale, let alone reverse engineering, designing, constructing and testing a full fleet of 2nd or 3rd generation warships. Its like producing an F16 9 years after the wright brothers proved flight was possible; even if you have technological blueprints to follow, there's a limit to how fast your industry can keep up with the increasing technological advancement of the designs you're deciphering.

I'd honestly have preferred longer than the 26 years I gave the humans in my story to do this, but there was a limit to how far back in time I could push the colonisation of Mars and the discovery of the ruins, and I wanted to keep the canon mass effect 1 date of 2183 CE.

* * *

 **Timeline Changes So Far**

 _First colony on mars: 27 years earlier than canon_

 _Discovery of Prothean ruins: 64 years earlier than canon_

 _Founding of the Systems Alliance (council of nations version): 63 years earlier than canon_

 _First Contact War: 45 years earlier than canon_

 _Founding of the Systems Alliance (parliamentary super state version): 44 years earlier than canon_

 _Citadel Ascension Process: 52 years longer than canon (humans become an Associate Race 7 years later than canon)_


	21. Chapter 21

_Standard disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect, nor any other content that you recognise. Some characters and systems are original creations. I am receiving no money for my work._

* * *

 _My thanks to HTM for sorting through my spelling and grammar._

* * *

 **Vancouver – Earth**

 **2113.03.02**

* * *

The Cabinet returned from lunch and took their places around the table. Simultaniously, the First Space Lord and the First Sky Marshal took two of the seats kept in place for non-cabinet minister attendees.

Prime Minister Tharoor took out his notepad and nodded at the two military officers, signalling them to begin the briefing.

"We will begin with the Marine Corps," Field Marshal Khatri began.

"The marine's general structure and hierarchy requires no reforms, just expansion. Indeed, they served with distinction on Shanxi, and the garrison would not have survived without them. The problem was getting them to the battlefield. Currently they are equipped mainly for shipboard security and boarding enemy vessels, they were not equipped for planetary battles and especially not for insertion from space into hostile controlled ground territory."

"However, given the army's dismal failure to create a secure beachhead, we feel that this capturing and securing of a beachhead area in the opening of a planetary assault, an operation critical to the invasion's success is a role that should be transferred away from the army and given to the marines."

The Field Marshal's voice almost broke at the near disaster her beloved army had caused with its landing on Shanxi. They had faced a battered and almost broken turian force, barely functioning, nearly out of supplies, and advancing under constant air attack. But the turians had still managed to almost sweep away the army's defenders and overrun the beachhead before the rest of the army could land in force. If not for the bravery of Colonel Albricci and her Italian scout tank regiment, they would have done.

Taking a moment to gather herself, she continued.

"With this new planetary assault role in addition to their shipboard security and boarding roles, the marines need new equipment. Specifically, they need vehicles, but space is at a premium on the navy's warships. Our warships, especially the frigates and cruisers, simply don't have the space for the logistics required to give the marines a large fleet of vehicles, nor can they hold the traditional dropships to deliver them to the surface. As such we recommend commissioning a general purpose 6 wheeled infantry fighting vehicle that can be airdropped directly onto the battlefield."

"This will mean that the entire marine corps vehicle pool will use a single chassis and that, even when the more specialised variants of the vehicle are able to be carried on the marine assault ships that we also recommend be designed to support this role, this single chassis type will give huge benefits in ease of maintenance and logistics over our enemies. In addition, our frigates especially will benefit from being able to deploy infantry fighting vehicles to any ground-based problems they encounter on patrol, rather than having to land and send marines on foot or wait for army support. It will be a huge benefit to the navy in both peacetime and wartime."

The Minister of Defence nodded, approving of the plan.

"It does little good to have perfect specialised vehicles if you can't carry many of them, either because of the massive amounts of different spare parts, or because you can't get them onto the battlefield because they have broken down."

"The ability of the navy and marines to quickly deal with any ground-based issue short of a full planetary invasion will massively increase our flexibility and response time as well. Smuggler bases aren't generally prepared for marine IFVs being dropped directly on top of them. Do you have any designs in progress?"

"We are working on our own as well as putting it out to tender, at the moment we only have the design challenge name: Mako," Field Marshal Khatri replied.

"Mako?" Heath looked bewildered.

"It's a species of shark," the Minister of Environment responded happily, pleased that the marines would be enjoying new prominence and prestige as well as new equipment, they had family in the corps.

Fleet Admiral Carmichael took over the briefing. "Moving on to the navy, the naval command structure itself worked well. But we needed far more coordination between our forces when in battle. As such we need to increase the amount of flag officers assigned to each fleet, especially as our fleets get larger. Other than that, there were no issues with our naval personnel."

"Our order of battle performed to expectations as well, though that will need major changes given that we now expect to be able to produce viable strike craft, both fighters and torpedo bombers, in large numbers. With the reintroduction of the escort carrier and the fleet carrier to our navy and our naval doctrine, we will have to completely re-evaluate how we organise our combat groups, since our current ones are designed around an entirely big gun navy. I suspect this was something that all of you saw coming."

The Cabinet looked pleased for a moment before the First Space Lord continued speaking. "The main problem for the Alliance Navy comes from our wartime R&D, specifically the new ship designs," Thomas Carmichael spoke derisively as the holographic emitter erupted to show a slowly rotating grey delta shaped cruiser. In another life, this design would have been the most recognisable human warship across citadel space.

"And what's wrong with it?" The Minister of Industry asked defensively, having ties to both Lockheed-Martin and BAE systems they had seen the design before.

"Everything," Fleet Admiral Carmichael replied flatly. "It's the perfect point about why civilians shouldn't design warships. The official recommendation of the Space Lords is that all of the navy's warships should be designed by the Admiralty."

"We are fully supportive of the outsourcing of both component and system design, and that of smaller equipment pieces. I think our support of the Mako design challenge going out to private tender shows that. But civilians just don't understand naval warfare well enough to produce a good ship, and this is the perfect example. It meets all of the specified design criteria, but it's just a knock-off of a turian cruiser. It will make us a second-rate power."

Industry turned an amazing shade of red as Defence, and the Chancellor looked decidedly unhappy.

"We will discuss whether responsibility for warship design should be given to the Admiralty only at a later date," Rajendra Tharoor stated mildly, distracted by the delta cruiser design, looking sleek and powerful as it rotated above the cabinet table.

He was trying to see the problems that were so obvious to the First Space Lord, but could still see only grace and power in the beautiful grey hulled ship. "Perhaps you should break down the four biggest problems with this design for us, as none of us are naval officers."

The First Space Lord was happy to comply. "First, the delta wings. They attach only at the rear quarter of the ship. Not only does this severely limit the ability of the ship to perform high g-force manoeuvres without ripping them off – as they are anchored on such a small proportion of their length – it means in any form of crisis anyone in the wings has to run virtually the entire length of the ship before crossing over into the main hull, and then running back along virtually the entire length of the ship to their destination. That is if enemy fire hasn't destroyed the very limited number of connecting passages, isolating huge numbers of the crew from where they need to be."

"Turian warships have wings," Industry spoke up mutinously.

"And they connect to the main hull along one hundred percent of their in-line length to avoid exactly these problems," Field Marshal Khatri spoke up in defence of her colleague as he continued on.

"Second, the main gun is ridiculously exposed to broadside fire. When most citadel warships close with each other and can no longer use their main guns, they use smaller broadside guns scattered along the length of the ship to engage each other. The sole exception is the asari, who design their ships to be able to use their main guns against an enemy's broadside. This only makes the design flaws effects worse."

"Now, just look at how thin the main hull is, and how the delta wings fall away beneath it at the mid-way point, leaving the entire front half unprotected. A couple of good hits will damage the main mass accelerator's tracks, distorting them badly enough that the ship will be virtually guaranteed to lose the ability to fire its main gun within the first few hits to breach its kinetic barrier."

Most of the Cabinet had looks of shock on their faces, appalled that what looked to be such a strong and inspiring design was so utterly flawed.

"Third, the engines are far too exposed, sacrificing virtually all armour to be able to move and change position quickly. While that manoeuvrability is an ideal goal, it is often impractical due the fact that it leaves your engines exposed, and it is of little use if it gets your engines get destroyed. While the engine placement of this design does give very high manoeuvrability, it also leaves the engines monstrously vulnerable to torpedo bomber strikes."

"If this were a design for a ship not intended for knock down, drag out fleet battles, a stealth cruiser for instance, then the trade off protection for maneuverability would most likely be worth it. But in a fleet battle this engine design is a total liability, If the enemy navy has any serious carrier or strike craft capability, this ship would be dead in the water after the first successful bombing run. This is a problem that the other races should be having, not the race that is actually introducing the carrier and torpedo bomber to the battlefield."

The Minister of Industry looked apocalyptic at the shredding of their company backer's designs, but the death glares being sent their way by the Minister of Defence were enough to keep them quiet.

"And finally, the entire ship is designed to be as efficient as possible."

"And that's a bad thing?" the Minister of the Environment spoke up questioningly

"It means that there is almost no room to strip out and replace systems as technology advances. There's no spare power for newer, more effective, but more power-hungry systems. There's no space to add new systems or increase the crew complement if needed. There's minimal redundancy, so a small amount of battle damage has the potential to cripple the entire ship. Indeed, the ship is designed to be so thin at all points that a single large penetrating warhead could cause catastrophic damage in more than three quarters of the possible impact areas, then there is…"

"I think we've heard enough," The Chancellor of the Treasury spoke up harshly, sending death glares at the Minister of Industry along with most of the Cabinet. "I think we can agree that, barring any truly earth-shattering information appearing when we debate it, warship design should be solely the responsibility of the Admiralty. But that is a debate for another day as the Prime Minister said. For now, we have to focus on the problem in front of us. Admiral, do you have an alternative?"

"We are still working on designs for most roles. It's generally a bad idea to have the same ship silhouette for your entire fleet due to the varied roles they need to fulfil. What is the benefit to one ship class will most likely be a detriment to another. That's another thing that the delta design gets wrong - though to be fair, the turians, quarians and most of the Citadel associate races make that exact trade-off to increase the speed and decrease the price of construction." Fleet Admiral Carmichael waved at the holographic emitter and the view changed to show a rotating image of a UNSC Athens class carrier from the Halo computer game.

The Ministers of Culture, Transport and Industry snorted derisively.

"I take it this is one of those moments when we should reflect on the irony that a ship silhouette, thought up for a game whose characters use large mass accelerator cannons as their main armament, is actually a good design for a warship that uses a large mass accelerator cannon as its main armament?" the Minister of Education spoke up, amused.

"Exactly," the First Space Lord replied. "As Commodore Hansa said, never eliminate something that might be of use to you, just because it came from the mind of a game designer or an author rather than a more traditional source. With the amount of fiction and games out there, there is a wealth of resources to draw on if we don't let blind prejudice reject it out of hand."

Several ministers' expressions turned from angry to thoughtful as the First Space Lord continued.

"Now, this is just the silhouette, we aren't making a blind copy, not least because most game warships make no logical sense when you see what the artists and writers have crammed inside their hulls. But you can see how this silhouette immediately solves the four largest problems with the delta design that our defence contractors have come up with."

The First Space Lord gestured towards the hologram. "There is a single main hull, allowing us to place non-essential systems around the outside and protect the essential systems at the ship's core. See here at the stern how the engines are much more protected, the main gun is not only sheltered by the hull but also by these angled stubby protrusions which should deflect broadside shots rather than absorb them, giving them a much higher damage absorption rating. I expect this ship to be utterly destroyed before it loses its main gun to incoming broadside fire – which is absolutely essential for a dreadnought – and the best part is, we can build this now."

"Admiral," the Minister of Defence snapped out harshly as the Chancellor's expression hardened. "We are not building a ship that may be obsolete in a handful of years. You will have to wait until we have a proper design, we expect to have to rebuild the fleet only twice over before we are up to modern standards, not five or six."

Thomas Carmichael grinned and waved his hand again and the display changed to show what was basically a box frame of the ship that had been there before. "Ministers, this is the building style that will allow us to start construction tomorrow on a ship that will eventually be the equal of Citadel designs."

There was a stunned silence around the cabinet table before Prime Minister Tharoor broke it. Speaking slowly and deliberately, implying without effort that Admiral Carmichael would be Mr. Carmichael by the morning if he didn't deliver on that extraordinary statement. "We are listening intently, Admiral."

"The one area where we are equal to the Citadel races is armour. No one armours shit like we do except the krogan, and they haven't built anything since the rebellions. This framework allows armour sections to attach directly to the box style framework, rather than the traditional method of bolting it on to a fully completed hull that gets its strength from a central keel design. Unlike the inner hull and keel design, using this box design we can essentially create a hollow ship shaped box out of armour."

"And why is that useful?" Education spoke up curiously.

"Because it allows the entire ship to be modular," the First Space Lord replied as the view changed to show variously sized boxes containing equipment attaching to the inside of the hollow shell's framework, power conduits and control lines began to form, running between the boxes in what began to resemble between deck crawlspaces. When it was complete, a thin sheet of metal wrapped around the lego brick style internal construction, making it airtight.

"When we come up with a new reactor design, we can simply remove the armour from that part of the shell, pull out the reactor module, and stick in a new one. The same is true with the main gun module, the crew quarters module, the engines, the main computer core, and so on and so forth. It allows us to start building ship frames that will still be flying a hundred years from now, tomorrow."

"The innards of the ship, everything but the armour, will be swapped out and replaced as our technology advances. But that is considerably easier than rebuilding the entire fleet three times as technology makes an entire generation of warships so obsolete that we just can't upgrade them anymore."

"Doesn't that removable module design make them far more vulnerable to damage when the armour is breached?" Defence asked quietly, intrigued by the proposal.

"Yes," Admiral Carmichael admitted. "While our ships would be far more heavily armoured than any other races in existence, once that armour is breached, the modular structure would make them incredibly vulnerable to damage. Nothing is perfect, there are always trade-offs. We can try to minimise those trade-offs, and we have done that by making the armour so thick. This design's armour is nearly three times thicker than the armour on turian warships, and our armour is slightly stronger than turian armour as well, but the ship will be slower, less manoeuvrable, and more vulnerable to damage than any other races if the armour is breached."

"The decision to make is if that vulnerability is worth the increased ease and speed of upgrades and refitting. In the opinion of the Admiralty, it is. We don't know what tech is out there in the galaxy, we don't even know what tech will come out of our own labs in a decade's time. We need the ability to completely refit the fleet quickly and easily, or we risk a Virginia situation."

"A Virginia Situation?" the Home Secretary asked, confused at the reference.

"In 1862 CE the _CSS Virginia_ , an ironclad with a broadside of 4 cannons, engaged the _USS Cumberland_ and the _USS Congress_ , wooden sailing ships with broadsides of 22 and 24 cannons respectively. Both sailing ships were sunk, by a warship that had only 2% of their combined armament."

"To add insult to injury, the _CSS Virginia_ suffered only minor damage in the process. That morning the British Royal Navy had over 100 ships of the line, ready to sail anywhere and defend the British Empire from any threat, in the evening they only had 2. Because only their ironclad warships, _HMS Warrior_ and her sister _HMS Black Prince,_ would be able to defeat that tiny confederate riverboat." Thomas Carmichael explained succinctly.

The Cabinet was silent at the thought of the panic that must have engulfed the British Admiralty at the news from the United States' civil war. To suddenly have 99% of your defence force rendered obsolete was a terror none of them wanted to experience. Ministers began to shift uncomfortably at the thought of it being caused by the discovery of a new race, with a fully operational fleet, rather than by an experiment between two sides already locked in a civil war.

"The ability to refit the fleet swiftly is of paramount importance, Admiral. Adopt the armoured shell design as the basis of all of our warship designs, immediately." The iron determination in Rajendra Tharoor's voice left none in the Cabinet willing to voice an objection. Not that they had any, none of them wished to be left vulnerable if they encountered a Virginia situation, which given that the turians had suddenly appeared out of nowhere and barrelled in, causing a mild form of it only months ago, was a far more realistic prospect than they were comfortable with.

"Were there other issues with the navy?" the Foreign Secretary asked mildly

"The other large area is the reserves. We propose that to make best use of the naval reserve personnel, and the naval budget, while replacement parts and supplies should continue to be supplied by private companies, our peacetime actual warship production should be built in state-owned shipyards manned by navy personnel."

"WHAT?!"

Pushed to breaking point already by the slaughtering of their corporate backer's ship design, the Minister of Industry exploded. "Absolutely not! This is not the Soviet Union! I will not hear any more of this travesty-"

"Are you quite done?" Rajendra Tharoor interrupted calmly, the contrast with the Minister of Industry could not have been more drastic. But no one in the room was in any doubt as to which of them was the deadlier politician.

The Minister of Industry looked mutinous as Prime Minister Tharoor turned back to his First Space Lord. "Why would this be of benefit to the Systems Alliance Admiral?"

"You can't actually be considering this!"

"I will consider whatever the fuck I like!" Rajendra Tharoor snapped back, a rattlesnake that had finally decided to strike. "It's a perk of being Prime Minister."

Industry swallowed, suddenly seeing their career going down in flames and decided that being silent was the better option, for now.

"The main bottleneck for naval production is large dockyard slips, and more importantly, trained shipyard personnel." Thomas Carmichael answered. "Unlike the army, where we propose only 10% of peacetime production to be carried out in state owned factories – mainly to keep the private sector contractors honest by proving what the at-cost figure of production is before they bid – the navy is much more vulnerable to the whims of the markets."

The Admiral continued, "Building tanks and vehicles is not that different from trucks and cars, production can be switched easily in existing factories in wartime, and there is always a trained workforce to be found. Shipbuilding is different. There is nothing like it. We cannot afford to have a critical shortage of trained shipbuilders and dockyard slips because we've just come out of a recession and private companies have cut their workforce and facilities to the bone, right when we need to ramp up production because of a new crisis."

"We also can't afford to limit the number of capital class dockyard slips to the numbers that a private company would find economically viable to maintain. There simply isn't enough demand for civilian ships of capital ship size, or even heavy cruiser size, to make private companies willing to build a significant number of large dockyard slips, and then keep them open but unused most of the time, but we need them ready in case we need a crash shipbuilding programme. In that sort of crisis, we just can't afford the time needed to train the personnel and build the dockyard slips before we can even lay down the first hulls of our emergency building programme."

"And how would we keep those slips busy when there is a lull in the requirement for new ships? You eluded to it yourself Admiral, even peacetime requirements fluctuate. Are taxpayers to pay for empty dockyard slips and idle workers?" the Chancellor spoke up with great reservations.

"This is the third part of the naval reforms," the First Space Lord replied. "We propose the construction of two anchorages to store mothballed ships. Though these ships would take a year to activate from mothballs and make combat ready, this could all be completed by on board teams and by minor repair yards. We wouldn't have to be reliant only on our shipyard capacity, which is a major advantage in any unexpected war. The spare peacetime production capacity would be used to produce ships for these anchorages rather than wasted."

"Using part time workers for this spare capacity, we would build the ships at a fraction of the normal speed, preventing an unusable number overwhelming the anchorages, and we would also be able to keep shipyard workers who require reduced hours for whatever reason, usually starting a family. Militarily, we would have an actual reserve of ships to bolster our fleet within a relatively short time, should we find ourselves in an unexpected war. This would allow our shipyards to focus on replacing combat losses and producing new ships for the freshly training crew in the event that the war becomes so serious that conscription is enacted."

"It would also boost the economy during recessions to have the construction continue unchanged, and it will be of great benefit to those areas with high unemployment," the Minister of Work and Pensions observed. "The shipbuilders will be military personnel, we can control where they are recruited from. We can launch recruitment drives for dockyard workers in any location that ends up in a depravation spiral, just as its local major employer goes bust, stopping the problem from getting worse. It would be a fantastic emergency response tool for unemployment."

With the more interventionist side of his Cabinet clearly already onside, Prime Minister Tharoor looked over questioningly at his Chancellor of the Treasury, ignoring the still cowed Minister of Industry.

"If we have guarantees that the state-owned shipyards will not produce any civilian ships under any circumstances, that the navy's replacement parts and supplies will continue to be purchased on the free market, and that the army's proposed maximum 10% procurement from state owned production is not changed, I would be willing to discuss it," the Chancellor answered the non-verbal question.

"I would argue strongly for all naval support ships to be built in private yards as well, only having combat warships built in military shipyards. But that is a debate for later, the state produced civilian ship is my absolute red line. I can understand state intervention in military production, but I will not serve in any government that distorts the free market so badly as to use state owned military dockyards to produce civilian ships for sale."

"Thank you, Chancellor," Prime Minister Tharoor stated with genuine warmth. "I recognise that this is a difficult proposition for you, and several others around this table to consider. We will consider your suggestions carefully while we table this proposal for another day. And in the meantime, we will commission reports to look into how precisely such a production arrangement will affect the markets and see if the economic implications are worth the military benefits. I assure you, we will not countenance blind intervention into the free market. Any proposal will be thoroughly researched before even being brought before the Cabinet."

The tension drained from several of the more free market members of the Cabinet as the Chancellor nodded their thanks.

The First Space Lord and the First Sky Marshal looked ready to continue the briefing, but the Prime Minister held up his hand to stop them, looking at his watch.

"Admiral, Field Marshal. While I'm sure the report on the performance of the army is detailed and wide-ranging, I am afraid that there is something that we have to witness first."

* * *

 **Shanxi – Centauri Veil**

 **2113.03.02**

* * *

Saren Arterius stood, lock-jawed, watching the post that had been hammered into the open planes of Shanxi.

There was nothing for miles around in any direction. The human government had, at least, recognised that creating a spot of pilgrimage for those who wished to celebrate the execution of a turian admiral wasn't a good idea.

The turian soldier struggled to keep himself under control. First his elder brother Desolas, his hero, was killed in an incident that the blackwatch refused to give him any information on – save that it involved an artefact looted from the spaceport here on Shanxi in the initial assault, before Desolas took it back to Palaven.

An artefact that had been guarded by a team of human mercenaries lead by Jack Harper. Saren had already committed the name and face to memory. The human would die if he ever crossed Saren's path.

The humans had, mercifully, not informed his father of his elder son's death. As far as Macen Arterius was concerned, Desolas was still on Palaven, guarding the artefact he and General Sparatus had ordered him to escort to a blackwatch research facility there. He had simply refused the invitation all direct family had to an execution of one of their own who had disgraced the Hierarchy so thoroughly.

Saren's muscles tensed as the fear for his father fought with the sheer burning hatred of the primitives surrounding him. How dare they pass judgement on a turian of any rank? Let alone one as accomplished and competent as his father, a paragon of turian duty. Even in death, he was doing his duty as a turian officer, taking a punishment that the primitives had no right to impose in order to sate their barbaric bloodlust.

The portable comms screen lit up, showing a table with a group of humans around it. Saren recognised many of the faces, but he only had eyes for the person at its head, the instantly recognisable face that made any decent turian furious. Saren wanted to claw the perfect brown skin to shreds and leave the human's face marred by their hyperactive scar tissue.

"The Cabinet is ready to bear witness," Rajendra Tharoor stated calmly, his voice resonating over the open plains as Tiran Sparatus placed a warning hand on his friend's shoulder.

The fury didn't abate, but Saren held himself in check and banished the more ridiculous revenge fantasies from his mind. He was glad of the support from his new friend. Tiran Sparatus was the mayor of one of the major city on Aephus, and had been tipped to become planetary governor in the near future, with a shot at Primarch of Aepus's cluster a real possibility someday. Some had even whispered he might be the future Primarch of the Turian Hierarchy – That was all gone now.

Tiran's mother, General Vetra Sparatus, had posthumously been found guilty of misusing Hierarchy military assets and deliberately misinterpreting orders by the human tribunal. The stain of that decision had blotted what was supposed to be a meteoric rise, which is how the two of them had bonded. Both of were filled with hate at the injustice done to their parents and burned for revenge.

Saren had already decided to follow in his brother's footsteps and apply for the blackwatch. He hoped from there he could gain recognition and get selected for the SPECTRE program, where he could properly counter the primitives foul influence.

Tiran had decided to leave his tainted civilian governor career and apply for the diplomatic service, where he hoped to be able to stop the other civilised races being taken in by the bloodthirsty scum. It would leave the humans isolated and under Citadel control. Exactly where they belonged.

The doors on the APC parked close by had been closed since its arrival. Now they opened with a piercing shriek, and Macen Arterius was led out. He saw Saren and shook his head sadly, as if wishing that his son wasn't there to see this. Wearing the uniform of a simple turian sailor, he was led towards the stake hammered into the ground.

General Williams was waiting for him. "Will the ropes and blindfold be necessary?" the former Shanxi garrison commander whispered, too faintly to be picked up by the recorders.

Jack Williams was facing his own court martial after he had discharged this duty, for being the only human general ever to surrender to an alien race they were going to find something to throw at him. But even the deaths of his soldiers and the end of his career couldn't extinguish the respect he had for the former turian admiral for owning his mistakes. He didn't want that decision marred by Macen trying to flee at the last moment, despite there being nowhere to flee to. The will to survive was strong in all living things. It could break even the strongest people when they were faced with certain death.

"Thank you, but I'm confident my will is strong enough," Macen whispered back.

General Williams nodded and stepped back, turning to the recorders and the witnesses.

"Macen Arterius, please stand with your back against the post. I have decided that bindings are not necessary, and you have previously refused the offer of a blindfold," General Williams announced for the official record.

He continued as the former admiral took up the position as instructed without flinching. "Macen Arterius. You have been found guilty of disobeying orders and the misuse of Hierarchy fleet assets. For these crimes the sentence of death by firing squad has been imposed, to be carried out today, the second of March twenty-one thirteen Common Era. Do you have any last words?"

"I'm sorry." Straight backed and showing no fear, Arterius ignored the firing squad and stared directly at Saren as he spoke.

"So noted," General Williams replied. "Firing detail, stand ready."

His pretty face scarred and melted by the napalm from his own grenades, Second Lieutenant Marcel Styles raised his weapon along with the rest of the detail.

"Take aim."

Saren Arterius clenched his hands hard enough to draw blood, wanting nothing more than to start throwing warps everywhere and somehow save his father.

"Fire!"

Macen Arterius joined thousands of his fellow turians in death on the open plains of Shanxi.

* * *

 **Vancouver – Earth**

 **2113.03.02**

* * *

"Well. At least it's finally over," the Minister of Sapient Rights stated angrily as the comms screen deactivated.

The Foreign Secretary simply ignored their death glare. Sapient Rights was always going to be against the death penalty as it was their job to enforce and defend the Declaration of Universal Sapient Rights, which formed the basis of Alliance law and explicitly outlawed the death penalty.

Unfortunately, turian law had left them no wiggle room. "Perhaps we should continue with the briefing, Prime Minister?" they suggested calmly.

"Indeed," Rajendra Tharoor nodded in agreement. "Field Marshal, you were going to brief us on the performance of the army?"

The First Sky Marshal nodded and stood up to continue the briefing. "Defensively, our army could not have performed better. As you are all aware, when the last line of the Prothean log entries was released to the public they – as all of our nation's leaders had been – were finally aware of our conclusion that the Protheans had been wiped out by a hostile force. The arguments over whether that force was external or internal were immaterial to both the public and the military. What both of us focused on was we didn't know if that force, or if a more militarized and revenge driven remnant of the Protheans, were still around. More importantly, we didn't know what their reaction to us might be. The public demanded protection for the new colonies."

The Fleet Admiral interjected, "However, as I'm sure the Chancellor can attest, protection is expensive. The nation states of the Alliance simply weren't willing to fund a fleet or an army large enough to provide the level of protection demanded. This was the reason for the development of the defence in depth tactics and the endurance strategy. The most expensive part of any military is its people. Their training, their day-to-day needs, their health, their post service benefits and pensions. Often we can afford far more ships and tanks than we can soldiers to crew them."

"As such, the Maginot Line defences were designed as force multipliers," Field Marshal Khatri took over again. "Allowing only one division to be equipped with armour and the other two to rely on the weapons and protection of the fixed defences drastically reduced their equipment costs, as well as allowing a single corps to effectively defend a city from an entire attacking army."

"With the increased ease of mining, making the excavation of the required caverns fast and cheap, and the reduced labour costs required for construction due to increasing automation, the construction of the Maginot Lines and civilian shelter systems, both one-time expenses, was considered more economically viable than constantly maintaining an army of the size required to meet the public's demand for protection year after year."

"I can happily report that those decisions were vindicated. Outnumbered, outgunned, facing an unknown attacker with a high technological advantage with only a few days warning while at a third complete strength, the Shanxi garrison held the line. It was a magnificent vindication of our army's structure."

The Cabinet exploded into applause, but Prime Minister Tharoor had noted the discrepancy almost immediately. "Field Marshal, you don't seem appropriately happy for such a glowing endorsement of the army's structure, nor the bravery and determination of the Shanxi Garrison. This analysis doesn't match up with your recommendation to strip the army of its role in planetary assaults."

As the other Ministers calmed, Anaya Khatri took a shaky breath and elaborated. "Offensively, our army was a near disaster. We had orbital support, air superiority, and numbers, yet our beachhead was almost overrun by a nearly destroyed turian legion, a legion that advanced under constant air attack while suffering the levels of damage you would expect from having been engaged in constant combat operations for over a month without support. In short only the bravery of Colonels Albricci and Muller prevented disaster. We have learned that leg infantry divisions and even APCs are completely useless offensively on the Citadel era battlefield. The very benefits of the army's structure for defence leaves it crippled on the offence where its leg infantry divisions don't have the force multipliers of fixed defences."

She cleared her throat. "APCs became little more than mobile coffins. The only place they have on the modern battlefield is far in the rear acting as transport across captured and pacified territory. All infantry engaged in offensive operations must be equipped with Infantry Fighting Vehicles as their transport or else they will not be effective when engaging the enemy. Our command structure worked perfectly when operating with the benefit of fixed defences and comms systems, allowing the officers to command their much larger-than-traditional units. In the field, it broke down, and only the skill of our non-coms saved the beachhead."

The Cabinet sat, stunned at how badly the army that had defied all odds on the defensive had performed when asked to take the fight to the enemy.

"I take it you have a plan that will address these issues, Field Marshal?" Rajendra Tharoor asked, his voice hardening. "If humans are to push for a place at the top table, we cannot be hobbled by an army that can only fight defensively."

"We recognise this, Prime Minister," Anaya Khatri responded respectfully. "As such we recommend creating a fourth branch of the military. We wish to convert our current army into the Colonial Guard."

Several Cabinet Minister's eyebrows disappeared into their foreheads.

"The Colonial Guard would be separate to the army, each cluster's force would be under the control of its Cluster Assembly rather than the Ministry of Defence, and they, rather than the Federal Government, would be responsible for recruitment and financing, though we would suggest a system of subsidy for those clusters whose economies are too weak to support the required garrisons. We have modelled it on the National Guard system of the United States. This would allow both the low cost and relatively small size versus the value of objectives protected, and our proven defensive doctrine, to be maintained and defend our colonies against attack using the strategies that proved so effective on Shanxi."

"This would effectively leave us with no army," the Minister of Defence observed calmly. "Which I assume means you are proposing a major change of doctrine."

"The change would be a large expansion of the navy's frigate and cruiser forces," Fleet Admiral Carmichael explained. "With these ships we would blockade enemy worlds, rather than invade them. Deploying the army to invade and capture only the enemy's most vital worlds, and not even the entire world at that if we can help it."

"The new army would thus be much smaller, and we would be able to spend much of the money saved from that reduced manpower on fully mechanizing it," Anaya Khatri took over again. "All infantry would be transported to the front in IFVs. The entire army would be built around three division types. The vast majority would be a standard mixed armoured and mechanised infantry division, limited numbers of heavy divisions with an increased armoured component would be available to punch through enemy strongpoints, and limited numbers of light divisions with an increased infantry component would be available for occupational duty."

"The new divisions will be far smaller than our current ones, which will become the Colonial Guard, and are proposed to contain a more traditional 24,576 soldiers. The new corps will still be larger than traditional, containing 98,304 soldiers spread over 4 divisions. To this end, we have put out to tender a design challenge codenamed 'Megalodon'. An 8 wheeled IFV that, while not capable of being airdropped like the Mako, is larger, better armed, armoured, and has a larger troop-carrying capacity. Almost all army vehicles will use this chassis. From its standard IFV configuration to the self-propelled artillery, combat engineers, and mobile medical configurations among others. For lighter roles, the army will use marine Makos, especially the drone equipped scouting variants, and for its tanks, also referred to as heavy armour, an 8 wheeled tank design challenge codenamed 'Mosasaurus' has been put out to tender. A more detailed proposal of the new army structure will be submitted if you give these reforms the go ahead."

"Sticking with the shark theme, I see," Environment commented, oddly gleeful.

"That does seem to solve the drastically different requirements that an army in the Citadel era has with defending our cities against invading enemy territory," the Home Secretary spoke up cautiously.

"But all of these reforms seem very manpower intensive. Can we do this without having to implement conscription? The people will never stand for it outside of wartime, to even attempt to propose it would bring down the government," the minister of Work and Pensions spoke up.

"And what of the cost?" the Chancellor interrupted. "All of this is fine in principle, but it seems to be very costly. We cannot have a military budget so high that it strangles the civilian economy. That has been the mistake of far too many governments and it has never ended well."

"And I warn you that we will not authorise crippling military expenditure, or conscription," Prime Minister Tharoor supported his Cabinet Ministers. "Not only is our economy in a very delicate state as we go through the Citadel ascension process, but even with the turian invasion, the political will is not there to sustain such high expenditure long term."

Both military officers looked at each other before deciding to lead with the less controversial topic.

"With regards to manpower," Field Marshal Khatri began. "We have used the leading Alliance states as a base along with the USA and China, which range from 0.3% to 0.7%. As our reforms begin, we will require only 0.3% of the population to volunteer for military service to make this viable. Obviously, this will increase over time as we build up our military and the colonies expand, requiring more colonial guard soldiers."

"If current colonisation and population growth continues, we predict that the military will hit 0.5% of the Alliance population, active and reserve, at around 2200; nearly a century in the future. As such, our plans call for us to gradually increase our military size, aiming to complete our military plans by 2180, giving the Cabinet 20 years to review our military policy and make changes, such as recruiting more than 0.5%, or decommissioning defences in the core Alliance worlds. Using how deep they will be in our territory be by then as justification for removing the requirement for so many colonial guard troops."

"Estimate wise, in 2180, at the completion of our building programme, the Systems Alliance should be able to field eight active fleets, each centred around one of the dreadnoughts we are permitted to build under the treaty of Farixen, and two reserve fleets without dreadnought support. Two active duty marine planetary assault corps, with two in reserve, and one active duty army group, with two more in reserve. Combined with the colonial guard, all of this should be deliverable with a 0.5% peacetime army."

The cabinet looked slightly stunned at that information. "I guess we are all used to thinking on the scale of our individual nations and forget how large the Alliance actually is. Half a percent of 11 billion goes a long way, it seems. Out of interest, what could we deploy in wartime?" The Home Secretary questioned quietly.

"Assuming 2.5% of the population volunteers in the event we declare war, minus our already existing active and reserve forces, and based only on our current colonies and not any more that we may found before then... in 2180 we would have over 345 million volunteers to train and deploy as we see fit," Field Marshal Khatri replied proudly.

"Allah be merciful!" the Minister of Health exclaimed in shock. "What of total war?"

"Based on a 10% conscription law and subject to the same conditions as I just mentioned, we would have 1.9 Billion conscripts. New colonies planned before 2180 are certain to take that figure over 2 Billion by the time we actually reach then."

The Cabinet sat in total shock, suddenly aware of how large the Alliance was, and more importantly, how powerful the Council races they were determined to eventually join were, given how weak the Alliance was relative to them at the moment.

"Yes, well…." the Chancellor of the Treasury spoke up, clearing his throat. "Manpower is all well and good, but what of the cost? All of this development, construction, recruitment, training. The bill must be eyewatering."

"Stretching the programme out over 70 odd years does help keep the cost down," Admiral Carmichael placated. "But yes, the cost is very high. We estimate that the first 30 years of the programme will require 20% of the current federal budget to be spent on the military, dropping to 15% for the remainder for the next 40 years, before finally falling to a regular peacetime requirement of 10% in 2180. Given the current military expenditures of Alliance's current and former member states, we are confident that this will not strangle the economy."

"Forget strangling the fucking economy! How the fuck are we supposed to finance that?!" the Minister of Education practically yelled. "The budget is already stretched tight and suddenly we have to nearly quadruple the military's share? Where is it going to come from? Who's going to lose out?"

The Cabinet Ministers all suddenly looked at each other warily, knowing what the drastic cuts required would do to their departments. The percentage increase the Admiral was calling for was larger than some ministry's entire budgets.

"I think that our officers, while they have valid military concerns, have severely overstepped the mark. We cannot afford-" Transport began to throw recriminations, but Defence immediately shut them down.

"Oh do shut up. You all knew where our ambition to be a Council race would lead, and you all knew – at least vaguely – what it would cost. But none of you opened a discussion about it around this table. You did not want to know because you did not want the responsibility, either of condemning us to be a second-rate power, or of finding the money to realise our ambitions. Which might be called good politics by some of you, but I call it what it is. Abject cowardice."

The fire thrown by the Minister of Defence enraged the other Cabinet Ministers, mainly because it was true. All of them started yelling at each other before the clear laughter of the Minister of Culture caused them all to fall silent.

"Ha ha ha, oh god, all of you a such a picture. Why are you so wedded to the idea that the money must come out of your own ministry? Just raise the high band income tax rates."

The Chancellor bristled and simply looked down their nose. "It is not that simple, Culture. Which you would know if you held a ministry of any importance."

The Minister of Culture simply grinned. "Maybe my ministry isn't as prestigious as the mighty treasury, but I know public relations. Do you know what the tax rates were like the last time there was a major war within living memory? It didn't matter who was in government. Democrat or Republican in the USA, Conservative, Labour or Liberal in Britain. The top income tax rate for the 1950s, 60s and 70s was always between 70% and 90%, it didn't drop below 50% until the 1980s. Most of our countries have a higher income tax rate in the 30% – 45% range. We have plenty of room to manoeuvre."

"You might have missed it," Industry hissed spitefully, regaining some of their bravado. "But we haven't exactly suffered a multi-year globally devastating world war lately."

"No," Culture smiled icicles back at Industry. "But we have suffered an invasion by those who call us primitive barbarians. And despite barely clinging on by our fingernails, in truth we were saved only by the mercy of the asari, halting what could have become a crusade of near genocide that would have left Earth as devastated as Tuchanka."

His grin would have been infectious, had he been in more morally dubious company. "We still lie weak and prostrate, unable to defend ourselves against just the turians, let alone the entire Citadel Fleet. We exist at the sufferance of the asari, and how can any decent human stand that? How can the super-rich decide that money is more important than our very existence? Surely the duty of every citizen is to pay their fair share to our collective survival in the face of this existential threat, and, of course, ensure that their fellow citizens do too."

The Cabinet Room was so silent you could have heard a pin drop. Several Cabinet Ministers were looking at the Minister of Culture as if he had grown a second head. The rest were rapidly moving him up their internal 'dangerous threat to my career ambitions' list and trying frantically to remember if they had handed him any ammunition on themselves recently.

"That is not really an accurate portrayal of the military situation," Fleet Admiral Carmichael spoke up awkwardly.

"Nor the diplomatic one," the Foreign Secretary spoke much more harshly. "In fact, it would be difficult to be less accurate without outright lying."

Culture shrugged, unconcerned. "Maybe, but as you yourself just said, it's not an outright lie. It's merely massaging the truth into a more helpful shape. As with everything in public relations, it's how you sell it."

"That rhetoric could really come back to bite us in the ass," Sapient Rights commented, wanting to be on record. "Once unleashed it's hard to counter."

"Perhaps." Prime Minister Tharoor spoke up thoughtfully. "But that is a problem for another day. We need a strong military if we are to survive, and to further our ambition of gaining a council seat, and to do that we need money. A lot of it, and for a long period of time. We have to catch up with millennia of expansion and military build-up by the three council races, and we only have a century or two to do it."

The other Cabinet Ministers all looked at each other and at the Prime Minister, running their own internal calculations. Deliberately setting up long term problems was risky, but if avoiding doing that just caused the Alliance's already large short-term problems to multiply, it might not matter. Having a peaceful future was of little use if your government collapsed before you got there.

"Admiral, Field Marshal. Thank you for your report, we will discuss it, and its recommendations, in detail over the coming weeks. If you could please see yourselves out.

Both military officers filed out, Anaya Khatri shooting a disgusted glare at the Minister of Culture as she did so. The man was scum in her opinion, and she had no problem showing it. A mercenary that decided to protect his client's cargo rather than help in the defence of Shanxi didn't deserve any of her respect. How the man had managed to leverage such self-serving actions into a war hero narrative that had helped him win his election was beyond the Field Marshal.

As Prime Minister Tharoor turned to a minister he admitted to himself that he had severely underestimated, "I believe that Culture should tell us what they have in mind."

The cybernetic eyes of Jack Harper, the Minister of Culture, Media and Sport, locked with Rajendra Tharoor's. "Of course, Prime Minister, I'd be happy too."

* * *

 **XNAV: 534.746 / 893.782 / 12.29 – Attican Traverse**

 **2113.03.27**

* * *

Lieutenant Shala'Raan vas Tesleya kept a close eye on the bridge crew of the _Tesleya_. The batarian-built frigate was part of the scouting group centred around the _Tonbay,_ one of the cruisers that had fled Rannoch 218 years ago as the Migrant Fleet franticly tried to escape the war of extermination that their geth workforce had unleashed on them. Now it was used as one of the anchors of the Patrol Fleet, acting as a command hub for six frigates as they, and other ships of the Patrol fleet, swept space along the Migrant Fleet's path.

It was the dream of most quarians to serve in the Heavy Fleet, the powerful cruisers – including the last surviving heavy cruisers in the galaxy – that protected the Civilian Fleet and the entire quarian race.

But not Shala. She had enjoyed her pilgrimage immensely, and if she were not so deeply attached to her family, she would have stayed exploring the galaxy for years.

As it was, she had compromised and gotten a spot in the Patrol Fleet by bringing back the _Tesleya_ , an accomplishment that had netted her a starting commission of lieutenant and the position of executive officer on her pilgrimage gift to the fleet. Consisting mainly of frigates and lighter cruisers, the Patrol Fleet not only escorted the Heavy and Civilian Fleets, they were the one part of the Migrant Fleet that explored on their own, scouting ahead for threats. Granted, it was in the general direction that the Migrant Fleet was going anyway, and that direction had usually been chosen because it was supposed to be dull and unthreatening, but Shala'Raan would take what she could get.

"Captain, I'm getting a return in one of the forward port sectors," Sensors called out. "It seems to be a ship. It must be derelict otherwise we would have spotted it long before now."

Shala'Raan was standing over the young sensor officer in a flash. "Correction Captain, it's operating on minimal power. If it was derelict, we still wouldn't have a decent reading on it yet. It's still producing a minimal heat signature, and the heat distribution pattern shows that to be deliberate, rather than the lingering remnants of a catastrophic systems failure."

"Battle stations," Captain Hilo'Vael vas Tesleya called out calmly. "Well spotted Lieutenant Raan. Weapons, lock onto that ship and prepare to fire."

Quarians didn't take any risks with the safety of their ships or their fleet. They couldn't afford to. Not with the entire quarian race reduced to 17 million people in 50,000 ships, even combat ships in the Patrol and Heavy Fleets had civilians crammed aboard, which meant that anything that might be the slightest threat had to be destroyed with prejudice. There simply wasn't another option when the destruction of a single ship would put a noticeable dent in the numbers of the entire quarian population, and more importantly in their genetic viability.

"No change in enemy ship, Captain," Lieutenant Raan reported. "What are they doing? They have to know their trap has failed, we've reoriented to face them and the heat signature for our weapons will have lit up like a turian firing range."

"It doesn't matter, we are locked on, Captain," Ensign Rael'Zorah vas Tesleya spoke up eagerly from the weapons station, it wasn't often that they got to engage in actual combat, and he relished the chance. It was why he had chosen the Patrol Fleet when he returned from pilgrimage. His friend, and comrade in arms and trouble, Han'Gerrel vas Neema might have control of bigger and better weapons on one of the few heavy cruisers still in existence, but if the Heavy Fleet engaged in combat, it meant the entire Flotilla was threatened. This chance to fight without the desperation of the future of his entire species hanging in the balance was exactly why Rael'Zorah had chosen a weapons officer position on a Patrol Fleet ship. He actually wanted to use the weapons he was in charge of.

"Perhaps the derelict is bait to draw us in? Shall I inform the other ships that we have possible hostiles incoming, Captain?" Comms spoke up hesitantly.

"Yes, excellent initiative, Comms." Captain Vael praised, hoping to encourage the situational awareness his comms officer was showing.

"Still no movement from enemy vessel," Lieutenant Raan noted hesitantly.

"Captain?" Ensign Zorah spoke up, confused that he had not been ordered to fire. The Migrant Fleet's policy with unknowns was clear, shoot to kill.

"Sensors. Confirm the dimensions of the target for me please," Hilo'Vael ordered leisurely, projecting calm and confidence to the 5 strong bridge crew.

Shala'Raan had known her Captain long enough to see through the act. She knew he was conflicted and left the sensor officer, striding over to his command chair. "What are you thinking, Captain?"

Wordlessly, Captain Vael simply pointed to the dimension's information displayed on his screen, dimensions that Sensors had just confirmed. Length: 1,400m Height: 400m Width: 400m Shape: Flattened hexagonal cylinder.

"Captain, that's…"

A strangled cry from the weapons station let them know that Rael'Zorah had just figured it out too, now that he wasn't just focusing on using the heat distribution map and direction of drift calculations to inflict maximum damage in the shortest time possible.

"Dreadnought sized if it's military, super-freighter sized if it's civilian." Captain Vael replied, making Sensors, Comms and Helm all join Rael'Zorah in total shock "Did anyone have freighters that large when you were on your pilgrimage, Lieutenant, Ensign?"

Shala'Raan and Rael'Zorah, the crewmembers who had been on pilgrimage most recently looked at each other for a moment before Lieutenant Raan responded. "Only the volus, sir. There are other ships of that size around of course, but they are all one-off designs. Only the volus had the need for such large ships given the sheer volume of trade they do with, well, everyone."

"Captain, the _Tonbay_ is hailing," Comms called out. "The Commodore would like to speak with you."

The Captain acknowledged and activated the comms. "Commodore."

"Captain Vael. Why haven't you destroyed the unknown yet?" The Commodore was swift and to the point.

"At the moment sir, I think its size warrants a different approach. I formally request permission to close with the unknown and see if it is truly derelict."

There was silence on the line for several moments. "Captain, that is a grave deviation from the rules of engagement, you know unknowns are to be destroyed. We can't take the risk that they will turn hostile."

"I know, sir, and if this were a frigate or a cruiser, I would agree wholeheartedly, but there is a super-freighter out there. We have nothing even close to that size except the liveships. Just think of how many families could live in that space! We could issue thousands of new child permits if we bring it back." Hilo'Vael spoke respectfully.

The Commodore was silent for several moments. The rules of engagement were clear, but so was a Captain's authority over their own ship when not in combat. "Very well, Captain. If you are prepared to take the risk, then you may close with the unknown. We will maintain the patrol. But I warn you, if it is a trap, we will not be coming to rescue you. I will not throw away more lives, no matter how tempting the bait."

"Thank you, Commodore." Captain Vael sighed with relief as the comms channel closed. "Helm, close with the derelict, cautiously. I want to be able to manoeuvre if this is a trap."

As the _Tesleya_ closed with the derelict, Shala'Raan and Rael'Zorah poured over the weapons console as it came into visual range. Sensors kept watch for any ships that might try to jump them, while Hilo'Vael sat alert, trusting his officers to see to the detail while he kept his mind clear to respond to whatever might happen.

"Well, it's certainly not a military ship. Look at these." Ensign Zorah stated calmly pointing out the fifteen two hundred meter wide domes spread along the ship. They formed an interlocking pattern around the central three quarters of the flattened hexagon cylinder shaped ship, with 3 on the dorsal surface, 2 on the dorsal port and starboard surfaces, 3 on the ventral port and starboard surfaces, and 2 on the ventral surface. "Does that look like vegetation to you?"

"Yes," Lieutenant Raan answered. "But I'm more interested in this. Look at that hull plating. It's new, as in days out of the shipyard new. I'd say that those domes used to project significantly away from the main hull, but someone just enclosed that space by linking up all of their bases, and then connecting them to the hull to form a sort of giant cargo hold."

"There! There's the registry information." Rael'Zorah exclaimed in triumph zooming the visual sensors into a block of symbols on the smooth hull. "That's a representation of a trinary star system. It has to be, I think?"

"But what are the symbols next to it?" Shala'Raan growled in frustration, highlighting the strange black symbols that were arranged into ' _SV GAIA_ _'_ _"_ Is the translator giving us anything? Anything at all?"

"Nothing Lieutenant." Comms replied running every analysis in their arsenal on the symbols and drawing a blank.

Shala'Raan and Rael'Zorah continued to argue and analyse as the _Tesleya_ flew by at high speed.

"Weapons, anything?"

"No response at all, Captain," Ensign Zorah responded.

"Sensors?"

"All clear, no threats or anomalies detected anywhere within range."

Captain Hilo'Vael vas Tesleya stilled for a moment and prayed to the ancestors that he was doing the right thing. "Sensors; keep a close eye out. I want to know the very second even a speck of dust looks out of place. Weapons; find us a docking port and transfer the coordinates to helm. Comms; hail the _Tonbay_ , tell them… tell them we're going in."

*Visuals for the 'derelict' can be found on my tumblr or by googling 'battlestar galactica botanical cruiser'

* * *

* _An entire codex entry for the special forces (N7s) has been written and placed in chapter 17. Various other codex entries have been tidied up and moved to make them a.) make more sense, and b.) take into account these reforms._

 _The biggest changes are to the marines order of battle – chapters 15 and 16_

 _*The only canon figures we have for warship compliment is Normandy SR1, 51 or 31 depending on how you read the list, and the Destiny Ascension, 'over 10,000' – these are incompatible given the wildly different crew per meter figures they invoke, so I have gone straight down the middle based on crew requirements of current navies. Explained below._

* * *

 _*Geek Info – For those as interested in numbers as me, the crew compliments of current navies and specific military percentage and budgets of some of the SA member nations are listed below (using the 2017 figures) rather than the broad range given in the chapter. I hope this explains some reviewers' questions as to how the Alliance has so much money and so many troops to deploy and how the navy can be so large. Quite frankly, compared to the army and navy figures we are used to; the Alliance's population and economy is just simply staggering and its crew requirements stunning._

 _Percentage of population serving in the peacetime military (active and reserves)_

USA = 0.7%

France = 0.6%

Britain = 0.4%

India = 0.4%

Germany = 0.3%

Australia = 0.3%

 _Military budget as a percentage of central government spending (budget) and as a percentage of GDP_

USA = 20% Federal Budget – 3.2% GDP

India = 9% Budget – 2.5% GDP

China = 6% Budget – 1.9% GDP

Britain = 5% Budget – 2.2% GDP

Australia = 5% Budget – 2% GDP

France = 4 % Budget – 1.8% GDP

Germany = 2% Budget – 1.2% GDP

 _Now; I don't have the skill to create an entire economy for a fictional universe some 200 years in the future, but it would seem reasonable to expect the Alliance to be able to maintain current post cold war/long peace military expenditure levels as an absolute minimum. Which I hope you will agree gives it plenty of money for the defences and fleets I have given it due to its sheer size._

 _Likewise; while my population spreadsheets are not yet complete – I still have to create the colonies list and population growth over time matrix for 3 more clusters that the Alliance will have colonised by ME1 – even with the current, partially complete, spreadsheet 0.5% of the Alliance population is 57.7 million in 2112. Jumping to 81.4 million in 2183 (ME1) and over 87.6 million in 2187 (ME3) and that's just the peacetime military (active + reserves)._

 _Canon states that 3% of the Alliance population volunteers for military service. So just to be safe I have given the Alliance a wartime military of 2.5% to allow 0.5% of retirees, medical discharges both physical and mental etc… That currently gives the Alliance a wartime military of 345 million people in 2183 (ME1) to add to its active and reserve forces – larger than the entire population of the USA today._

 _For a total war, with drastic conscription laws I came to the figure of 10% of the Alliance population (WW1 and WW2 figures averaged 8%, then I added 2% due to the huge increase in automation in economies since then, freeing up more people for conscription without damaging wartime production). This means that in a total war the Alliance will, in 2187 with the arrival of the reapers have wartime total conscript military of over 2 BILLION to add to its existing 100+ million strong standing military (active + reserves), though – like me staring at my army/navy/marines/colonial guard spreadsheets – the military planners will no doubt be wondering WTF to do with them all instead of celebrating :D_

 _ **Naval Crew Compliments**_ _– For those interested in how I worked out the crew requirements of the navy_

 _USN Gerald Ford carrier (2017) – Length: 337m / Crew: 2,600 with air wing + deck crew_

 _RN Queen Elizabeth carrier (2017) – Length: 280m / Crew: 620 without air wing + deck crew_

 _RN Audacious carrier (1950) – Length: 245m / Crew: 2,640 with air wing and deck crew_

 _RN Vanguard battleship (1950) – Length: 248m Crew: 1,975_

 _As you can see, although a carrier's air wing and deck crew are still manpower intensive. Better technology has allowed us to drastically cut the number of crew required per capital ship. I am therefore happy with my Alliance dreadnoughts requiring only 1,690 crew and fleet carriers 3,235 (excluding marines) despite them being multiple times the length of current and past warships._

 _RN Astute attack submarine (2001) – Length: 97m / Crew: 98_

 _RN V class attack submarine (1942) – Length: 62m / Crew: 33_

 _RN Type 45 (Daring) destroyer (2010) – Length 152m / Crew: 191_

 _RN Daring destroyer (1949) – Length 120m / Crew: 279_

 _As you can see, for smaller warships there seems to be something of a barrier, not even increasing technology can bring the crew requirements down to much. Indeed, for the Normandy SR1 equivalent (submarine) they have actually increased. As such I am happy with increasing the SR1's crew compliment to 74 (excluding marines), a 60% reduction in the standard crew per meter ratio of Alliance ships I came up with, and having the standard Alliance frigate and cruiser have crew compliments of 177 and 428 (excluding marines) respectively._

* * *

 **Timeline Changes So Far**

 _First colony on mars: 27 years earlier than canon_

 _Discovery of Prothean ruins: 64 years earlier than canon_

 _Founding of the Systems Alliance (council of nations version): 63 years earlier than canon_

 _First Contact War: 45 years earlier than canon_

 _Founding of the Systems Alliance (parliamentary super state version): 44 years earlier than canon_

 _Citadel Ascension Process: 52 years longer than canon (humans become an Associate Race 7 years later than canon)_


	22. Chapter 22

_Standard disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect, nor any other content that you recognise. Some characters and systems are original creations. I am receiving no money for my work._

* * *

 _My thanks to HTM for sorting through my spelling and grammar._

* * *

 _This chapter is dedicated to the memory of Paddy Ashdown, 27.02.1941 – 22.12.2018. A great man who I had the honour to meet._

* * *

 **XNAV: 534.746 / 893.782 / 12.29 – Attican Traverse**

 **2113.03.27**

* * *

Shala'Raan vas Tesleya crept cautiously across the vegetation-filled dome closest to the bow of the derelict. As the _Tesleya_ didn't have a compliment of Migrant Fleet marines, the Captain had ordered the crew with the most 'ground' experience to the airlock and split them into two teams.

One was under Ensign Rael'Zorah's command. He headed towards what the heat distribution and density scans predicted was the derelict's engine room. The other was hers, and as the _Tesleya's_ XO, she had overall command of the boarding party.

Lieutenant Raan called out over the private commlink between the two of them, so that she could get a true idea of what was going on without worrying about affecting the morale and trigger happiness of the boarding teams.

"Rael, report."

"You were right about the new hull construction. It's weeks old at most," Rael'Zorah replied distractedly. Shala was certain he was still expecting an ambush at any moment.

"This place is massive. We could vastly expand our light manufacturing industry in here, finally we wouldn't have to beg, borrow, and steal guns for the marines."

Shala'Raan allowed herself a small smile at her friend's constant militaristic focus. Undoubtedly the Conclave and the Admiralty Board would expand the flotilla's manufacturing capacity in that space, but it wouldn't be producing guns. Those and starship weapon components were some of the few resources that the Migrant Fleet could always source from somewhere else.

"What's going on in the domes? Is like we suspected? Vegetation?" the junior officer questioned.

"Yes," Shala'Raan replied curtly to her friend, looking up at the turian fruit tree in front of her. "And it's all dextro. I don't like this."

The quarian Lieutenant continued to look around, amazed at the variety of vegetation. It had been arranged in a beautiful yet efficient pattern, with small paths cutting deep into the vegetation. Whoever walked on those paths wouldn't even notice that they were on a spaceship, that's simply how thick the vegetation was. It left them with nothing but plants around them and the stars above, allowing them to completely forget that they were on a ship, if only for a moment.

"It's too perfect. It has to be a trap."

One of the crewmembers on Lieutenant Raan's team spat, looking at their omni-tool. "It's not just dextro. Even though it's mostly turian vegetation, it's all edible for quarians, and I do mean all of it. Even the moss used as ground cover is digestible, and a source of nutrients, though I doubt it would be pleasant."

Shala'Raan signalled her team to continue to skirt the perimeter of the dome. She had no intention of falling into an ambush in the thick vegetation.

"We're closing in on the bridge. Rael, anything?"

"We just entered engineering, the doors were wide open. My tech specialists are doing their thing, but at first glance I'd say it's a remarkably primitive setup. It's so inefficient I think a couple of my team are going to start crying from despair."

The humour infecting his voice annoyed the senior officer.

"Stay sharp! They might be about to ambush you at any moment!"

"Who, Lieutenant?" Rael'Zorah replied pragmatically. "You know I'm suspicious and always up for a fight, but whatever this is, I don't think it's a trap for us boarders. Not anymore. Engineering is the most vital area of any ship, more important than even the bridge, and we've been allowed to just walk in here, even when there were literally dozens of places to ambush us en-route from the docking bay."

Shala'Raan frowned behind her mask as Ensign Zorah continued.

"My team is telling me that everything is in standby mode, nothing's locked down. It might still be a trap that's set to explode if we bring it back to the fleet, but it's not a trap for us, and I'd stake my life on our engineers being able to track down any sabotage before we let it anywhere near the flotilla. At the moment, I'd say we need answers as to who left this potential gift for us, rather than who's trying to trap and kill us."

Hearing even the terminally cynical, shoot-any-problem-in-sight, can't-trust-any-aliens, Rael'Zorah openly state that this ship might just be a gift sent Shala'Raan's paranoia into overdrive.

"I'm at the bridge, the door is open and there's light coming from inside."

"There was nothing active in engineering, maybe you'll finally get some answers."

"Do you still have the charges, Ensign Zorah?" Lieutenant Raan snapped out, her paranoia and irritation peaking.

"Ready and primed, ma'am."

"6 minutes, standard pass phrase. If you haven't heard from me, blow the ship and retreat to the _Tesleya_ if possible. Take no chances with the safety of the Migrant Fleet."

"Never would, ma'am," Rael'Zorah replied resolute.

Shala'Raan entered the bridge of the derelict alien vessel.

A massive glass viewport dominated an entire wall, giving the bridge crew an unparalleled view of the cosmos. It reinforced her conclusion that this ship was some sort of luxury liner.

But the viewport wasn't the source of the light.

At the centre of the viewport, outlined against the stars that were a quarian's constant companion, a blue hologram was looking out into the galaxy.

Shala signalled to her team, and they spread out around the bridge as she cautiously approached the hologram. 2 minutes had passed by the time her omin-tool issued a shrill warning.

There was a motion detector sensor just ahead.

Shala'Raan took a deep breath, raised her shotgun, reinforced her kinetic barriers, and deliberately triggered the motion sensor.

The hologram turned around. It showed an alien that seemed to be a mix of quarian and asari, combining a quarian's hair and ears with an asari's body structure and normal eyes.

Shala'Raan and her boarding team only had a moment to study the alien hologram before it began speaking to them in perfect turian.

"Greetings. I am a recording of the human Anita Goyle, ambassador of the Systems Alliance. This ship, the _SV Gaia,_ is a gift from the humans to the quarians, and is given without condition. However, we would greatly appreciate the opportunity to meet with you and establish diplomatic relations. I will be at the following co-ordinates for seven 24 hour periods. My ship is unarmed, and I will be escorted by a single squadron of warships. I shall await your arrival."

As the hologram delivered a set of galactic co-ordinates and then began to loop, Lieutenant Shala'Raan vas Tesleya was left speechless for the first time in her career.

Thankfully she overcame it before the 6 minutes were up.

* * *

 **Serpent Nebula – The Citadel**

 **2113.04.01**

* * *

Matriarch Tevos Calis, Citadel Councillor and one of the most powerful asari in existence, was enjoying a perverse, childish, pleasure from letting the comms incoming call chime last far longer than necessary before answering.

Reluctantly deciding that she had let the caller wait long enough, the asari Councillor finally answered the comms.

"At last, I was beginning to wonder if I would have to come in person like a matron chasing down a child that wouldn't tidy their room," Matriarch Aethyta T'Soni roughly remarked.

"I have many duties to attend to Matriarch, I cannot simply drop everything at a time of your choosing," Councillor Tevos replied serenely, the very picture of detached grace.

Inwardly she burned with hatred at her fellow asari. Even when she tried to insult Aethyta by making her wait, the dammed woman still managed to turn it back on her.

"I'm sure," Aethyta deadpanned. "Thankfully for you, you will be allowed to continue those duties for at least a while longer."

"Your ex-wife was never going to get the votes for her no-confidence motion to succeed, I don't know why she even bothered to table it," Tevos sniffed disdainfully, hitting Aethyta in one of the few areas she was vulnerable.

"The amount of favours you called in over the last week tells a different story, Matriarch Calis," Aethyta smirked as she dug the knife in, showing no reaction to Tevos's jab at her divorce.

With her fellow matriarch's insult and seeming immunity to her own barbs, a little of the anger she felt finally slipped through Tevos Calis' mask.

"Don't take this little victory of Benezia's as an endorsement of your family's insane rejection of our cultural domination programme. The Council of Matriarchs has only censored me because my actions towards the humans have been deemed to be too blatant. They haven't censored me for manipulating the younger races, just for getting caught."

"I'll take what I can get," Matriarch Aethyta stated through a giant grin. With a few button presses, Aethyta sent a formal document with barely repressed glee.

"The official writ of censure, Councillor Tevos, noting how your recent actions have the subtlety of a maiden in a school debating society, or a krogan. The council couldn't decide which description to choose so they went with both. Regardless, your actions have fallen well below the standard that the Council of Matriarchs expects from our Councillor. They suggest you improve your handling of the situation, dramatically, if you want to remain as Councillor."

The official document appeared in Tevos' inbox as the Councillor resisted the urge to throw a warp at her own desk.

"Stay away from the humans, Councillor, or at the very least, don't get caught. You wouldn't want to become any more of an embarrassment than you already are." Aethyta really twisted the knife, enjoying every minute of the humiliation of her long-time rival.

"I will follow all orders that the Council of Matriarchs gives me," Matriarch Tevos replied serenely, her mask firmly back in place.

"Of cour-"

Tevos probably took more pleasure than she should have done in shutting down the comms while Aethyta was mid word.

* * *

 **XNAV: 534.814 / 893.693 / 12.57 – Attican Traverse**

 **2113.04.02**

* * *

Shala'Raan and Rael'Zorah stood before the observation window of the _Tesleya_ with their passenger.

When Lieutenant Raan had relayed the hologram's invitation back to Captain Hilo'Vael, a vicious argument had erupted between the Captain and the Commodore aboard the _Tonbay._

Thankfully, after 6 days of all of the scouting group's engineers stripping the systems of the _SV Gaia_ , they had found precisely nothing.

Well, that wasn't entirely true. They had found designs and components that hadn't been seen on the galactic stage in centuries, and more than one of them had broken down in screams of frustration as yet another function that should have been handled by a simple set of equipment was instead spread across three systems and four decks, taking up huge amounts of room.

But they were all absolutely certain that there was no way to force the superliner to explode and take out any nearby ships, short of the normal catastrophic accidents or sabotage all ships were vulnerable to, of course.

The remaining crew hadn't been idle while the engineers had been checking the _Gaia's_ systems, they had scoured the ship. Every room, every crawlspace, every centimetre of the hull, they had spent hundreds of crew hours crawling all over _Gaia_ , with their omni-tools set to deep scan and producing drones by the dozen to check everywhere they couldn't reach. There was nothing.

The _SV Gaia_ was exactly what she claimed to be; a welcome gift from the humans to the quarians.

Even given the primitive nature of it, most of the crew were awed to finally be aboard a super class ship. Apart from their voluntary rotations aboard the 3 liveships, no quarians had stood aboard a super or capital class ship since their exile.

The mass effect technology of the galaxy had a sweet spot limit of approximately 1km. Building a ship longer than that was easy; but the larger the mass effect field, the smaller 'bang for your buck' you got. It was the law of diminishing returns.

It was generally cheaper, especially for civilians, to build three 400m ships than it was to build one 1,200m one. The more efficient mass effect fields of the smaller ships required far less element zero to operate, keeping the one resource more expensive than the crew at a much lower level for the same amount of cargo moved by one superfrieghter.

That was why there were so few vessels, galaxy wide, larger than 1km. The only reasons military vessels were longer was to increase the length, and thus firepower, of their main gun. The fact that prestige also played a part with that went unsaid.

Unlike their military counterparts, there was no primary reason to build civilian ships that large. The only superfrieghters and superliners to exist were built purely because their owners found the prestige that they gave them more valuable than economic efficiency.

As such, the Migrant Fleet had never been able to get their hands on a super class civilian ship, not for a price that they were actually capable of paying anyway.

Yet here it was. A superliner. Not traded, not sold, not discounted. Given.

Given unconditionally.

Even the eternally cynical Rael'Zorah had been moved.

Faced with near unanimity that the humans at least deserved to be heard out in return for such a gift, the Commodore had finally given in to Captain Vael's requests to go to the rendezvous coordinates.

 _Tesleya_ had approached and met with the humans while _Tonbay_ stayed back, within communications range but, the Commodore hoped, safe from ambush.

The argument had been fierce.

At first the humans had wanted to bring their escort squadron to the Migrant Fleet. The simple request had nearly made the crew of the _Tesleya_ depart in disgust, but the speed with which the humans backed down had left Shala'Raan and Rael'Zorah in agreement that they had never seriously expected that request to be accepted. They simply wanted to make it to make the point that although they were sympathetic to the quarians, they were not pushovers.

To make sure that the quarians understood that the velvet glove hid a duranium fist was how Rael had described it to Shala later.

The true argument had been between Captain Hilo'Vael and the human Commodore.

The human Commodore was adamant that the ambassador would not travel without her ship.

Captain Vael was adamant that no ship, even an unarmed one, was going to be allowed to not just approach, but actually enter the Migrant Fleet's formation. After all, if there was just a single nuclear shrapnel bomb present aboard, it could conceivably wipe out thousands of quarians depending on how many ships were in its blast radius. Millions if it damaged or destroyed a liveship.

Accusation and counter accusation raged until the human ambassador herself shut down her protective detail's arguments.

She was to meet with the quarian leadership, and if that meant going with only a small number of guards on a quarian ship, then that was what she would do. The human ships remained in position while _Tesleya_ and _Tonbay_ returned to the Migrant Fleet with the human ambassador.

Shala'Raan stopped her mind wandering over memories of the last few days and focused on her surroundings in the _Tesleya's_ observation room.

The human ambassador was talking to Ensign Zorah in front of the viewing port as they began their final approach to the flotilla. Her four human marine guards stood by the door, watching over their charge.

Lieutenant Raan had kept Rael'Zorah with her due to his excellent combat skills. Combined with her tech skills, she was confident that they could take out the 4 human marines accompanying Ambassador Goyle if they needed to. Though she hoped that this new species would provide at least some relief to the Migrant Fleet's ever-growing list of problems, she was still wary of this being some form of trap.

Rael'Zorah's laugh filled the room as Anita Goyle told him of the liberation of Shanxi and Zapala.

"I still can't believe Admiral Drescher dragged a third of her fleet backwards through the relay! That's insane! And brilliant! Oh, I'd have loved to see the expression on those arrogant turians's faces!"

"Indeed, it was something that they would never have expected," Shala stated, inserting herself into the conversation. "Speaking of expectations, what are yours of us, ambassador?"

Having allowed her junior colleague to establish a rapport with the human, Shala'Raan felt comfortable enough to begin some digging. Like most species, the visors of human's spacesuits left their faces fully visible, so Shala'Raan was able to see the human's eyes harden.

"I'm not sure I should discuss that with you, Lieutenant Raan. It is a discussion for the Admiralty Board and the Conclave," Ambassador Goyle replied.

"I am _Tesleya's_ representative on the Conclave, perhaps I might be able to let you know what you might encounter?" Lieutenant Raan replied calmly.

"Trade, mainly, we wish permission to establish relations with quarian companies and buy quarian products," Ambassador Goyle responded with an answer that was no answer at all. She held her cards close to her chest.

The answer was very evasive, but it still left alarm bells ringing in Lieutenant Raan's head.

"Ambassador, you are aware that there are no quarian corporations, aren't you?"

"I'm sorry?"

The genuinely questioning tone of the human ambassador shocked both quarians.

"We understood that you were a representative democracy, each ship sending a delegate to the Conclave. Though you are still under martial law and thus the Conclave can be overridden by the Admiralty Board, just as a ship captain's word is final on their own vessel, no matter what the ship's council decides," Ambassador Goyle explained in confusion.

Both quarians noted that the ambassador had not mentioned economic systems, only the Migrant Fleet's political one.

Shala'Raan explained gently, hoping that this would not ruin relations with the humans, but understanding that the ambassador needed to know before she went before the Conclave.

"We are. But we don't have the industrial base to be like the rest of the galaxy, we have no economy in the Migrant Fleet as the rest of the galaxy would understand it."

It was easy to see how the humans had made the mistake that they had. There was precious little information available on the Migrant Fleet on the extranet, those facts that her people were willing to share almost no one was interested in, so beyond the very basics the flotilla was a black hole of information.

The humans had gathered information on their governmental system and given the lack of data to work from, assigned them several economic systems that they thought were most likely to work with that governmental system.

Their differing cultures had obviously led to the human's economic guesses being wildly off the mark.

Shala allowed herself a few moments of introspection before trying to explain. Everyone knew the quarian's entire 17 million strong race was housed in the Migrant Fleet, but few stopped to think about what that actually meant.

Having gathered her thoughts, Lieutenant Raan began speaking to the patiently waiting human ambassador.

"When the galaxy thinks of us, most people simply imagine ships stuffed to the airlocks with people and that's it. Only the most intelligent think about food, and food security. The liveships have to provide all of our food, as we can never allow ourselves to be blackmailed by being dependent on anyone else for our food supply."

Ambassador Goyle nodded along, a human gesture she had explained before as showing prior knowledge or agreement, which left Lieutenant Raan curious about where the cultural misunderstanding was going to occur.

"But almost no one takes that one step further and thinks of the difficulty in buying the high volumes of low value goods required for daily life, and the blackmail that that would give people as well. Due to the general opinion of the galaxy about us, the fact that we cannot allow non-quarian ships to trade with the flotilla itself for security reasons, that most trading station owners refuse to let quarian ships even dock unless we are trading highly valuable material they have punishing taxes on, that merchants refuse to even consider deep space transfers for fear of pirates or being ripped off, and that the Migrant Fleet can only ever be in one place, giving local traders an effective monopoly, we just can't source enough basic goods to survive on the open market."

"It's not things we can live without either," Rael'Zorah jumped in. "It's the replacement parts for our suits, the general ship parts for the flotilla, the simple data slates, the bubbles for the children, chemicals, materials, the plumbing, everything."

Ambassador Goyle was still nodding in dawning comprehension.

"And you need every credit you have to pay for ships and heavy industrial products, and the 'taxes' that the trading stations charge you just to take delivery of them. There's nothing left for light industrial products that you can produce yourselves."

The human woman made a funny movement with her hands, raising them to head height and bending the first 2 digits on each hand while holding the other 3 down when she said the word taxes. But the two quarians decided to inquire about that another time.

"Exactly," Shala'Raan replied, glad that Ambassador Goyle understood. "So, you see how much industry we have to fit onto our ships along with food production and living space. We cannot afford to have any wasted space. Anywhere."

"Corporations competing with each other would just duplicate products and services. Even if one eventually drives the less efficient one out of business, it's still taken up a lot of space and crew to produce the same products while they compete. So, in the Migrant Fleet, we each use our abilities to contribute to the flotilla. Be that as traditional ship crew, or in the internal economy. Then we take what we need. Food, suit parts, or any of the other necessitates of life, if we need it, we get it."

"From each according to their ability, to each according to their need," Ambassador Goyle muttered in shock. "You're a communist economy!"

"Is that a problem?" Rael'Zorah growled out, his earlier good mood swiftly evaporating.

"No!" The flustered human responded quickly. "It's just surprising. Very surprising to be honest. Humans have tried communism several times, it's never worked properly for us, at least anything above village level."

Anita Goyle gathered her thoughts and returned to her professional detached tone. "To be quite frank, most of us don't think that it is possible to make communism work properly above a small community. Just like how you can't make capitalism work properly AT a small community, such as a village, level."

The two quarians breathed a sigh of relief as they looked at each other. Obviously, there was some cultural baggage for the human to work through. Perhaps their experiments with communism hadn't gone well, but they could still salvage a relationship with them. A race that was willing to gift them a superliner was one that they didn't want to lose.

"I assume the cause of failure for capitalism at village level is well known? That the population is to small to sustain it, the wealth concentrates and suddenly one or two people own more than the whole rest of the village combined?" Lieutenant Raan asked.

"Effectively removing the money from the economy as it sits in property or a bank leaving people with no opportunity to earn it. The effect of which is to cause the economy to collapse when most of the population cannot earn enough to pay for the basic necessities of life, no matter how hard they work, because a critical mass of money is sitting unused in the bank accounts of the top 0.1%," Anita confirmed. "It's the same problem that occurs on a larger, national, scale if proper taxes and anti-monopoly rules aren't enforced on the free market, but no number of rules can prevent it from occurring at a village scale. The available resource base is just too small to start with."

Rael'Zorah responded, his friendly tone returning. "What you have to understand Ambassador, is that the flotilla is merely a collection of villages, we would fall prey to exactly that."

"Flotilla wide it would happen too, with the larger ships and crews draining the smaller ones that just don't have the population or resources to produce enough valuable commodities to pay for what they need to keep themselves running. Especially as more and more of those resources concentrated on the larger ships over time. It would of course on an individual level be a fairly earned reward for hard work. But on a flotilla wide level it would destroy the Migrant Fleet."

"I take it your communism experiments collapsed from lack of trust?" Shala'Raan asked kindly.

"We called it human nature," Anita Goyle replied, smiling grimly before elaborating.

"From each according to their ability, to each according to their need. That only works when the whole community can see and agree what those abilities and needs are. At a village level the population can do that so it's fine. Above a village level it's impossible for the whole population to be involved. So, someone, be it an individual or a political party, always has to decide what people's abilities are and what their needs are. Even if they start out with good and pure intentions, eventually the decision makers become... corrupt."

The ambassador cleared her throat. "More is asked of some people than they can fairly produce, and more is given to some people than they fairly deserve. In human experience the whole system then rots from the inside out and eventually collapses. But not before those doing the choosing have created a river of blood, trying to eliminate anyone who notices the ability/need calculation has become distorted until they're overwhelmed by a critical mass of the population turning rebellious."

Shala'Raan replied sadly, trying not to focus on what had obviously been a difficult time in human history. "We thought the same. But the total extermination of your species has a way of fostering trust. Each ship's crew can see what they are all capable of contributing, and what they and their ship need. They provide all they can to the flotilla and take only what they need, trusting that – despite whatever corrupt and greedy individuals might be present among them – a ship's entire crew would not jeopardise the flotilla and the survival of the entire quarian race by taking more than their fair share."

"In a collection of flying villages, the fear of being left the last quarian village in the universe would certainly be a powerful motivator against greed," Ambassador Goyle muttered.

"Indeed!" Rael'Zorah replied, energetically as he gestured towards the viewport. "But enough of this depressing topic, we are in visual range of the flotilla. It's always a wonderful sight to come home to."

Ambassador Goyle stood at the viewport and silently fumed at how badly the foreign office had fucked up. A large weapon in her arsenal was now useless and she was totally reliant on the big-ticket items. It meant she couldn't push too hard.

If the quarians didn't accept her proposals, there was no way to slowly draw them into the Alliance's economic sphere via trade and apply pressure through their corporations, because they simply didn't have any. Her mission just became all or nothing.

There were a myriad of governmental systems and economies throughout Citadel space. Among the associate races the elcor had a liberal tribal government and feudal economy, the batarians had a stratified caste government and slave economy, the hanar had theocratic government and socialist economy, and the volus had a clan plutocratic government and corporate economy.

Among the Council races the salarians had a dynastic aristocratic government and libertarian economy, the turians had an elected autocratic government and privately owned but planned - by the volus – economy, and the asari had a gerontocratic direct democracy and libertarian economy. Then there was the human liberal representative democracy and social democratic economy to consider as well.

After running through the list in her head Ambassador Goyle reluctantly realised that the foreign office analysts had a point. With so many different economic systems, and the only two even coming close to a truly communist economy – the turians and the hanar – stopping well short, who would have expected to find it here among the quarians? Especially as they didn't have the autocratic government that was always thought essential to make it work?

Ruefully, the Ambassador mused that the Marxists at home would at least concede that eliminating 99.7% of the human population and living aboard a flotilla of ships was probably not a price worth paying to bring about the paradise they were sure communism would bring.

She was jarred out of her thoughts by the spectacle few ever got to see.

Ships were everywhere, all kinds, all classes, as the _Tesleya_ danced between them, heading for the centre of the flotilla. They burst through the last protective ring and there, at the centre of it all, were the three 2.8 kilometre liveships, the largest ships by mass in the galaxy, even if the _Destiny Ascension_ was taller.

The centres of the massive liveships rotated to provide gravity and microgravity for the food production and industry housed within, freeing up eezo for the badly straining drive core to use to keep the ship moving, rather than providing artificial gravity.

As _Tesleya_ approached the liveship _Rayya_ , the meeting place of the Conclave, the wonder Ambassador Goyle felt changed to sadness.

The liveships weren't colony ships, they were never designed to land and be deconstructed. They were refugee ships, the last desperate effort of a people to escape genocide.

Anita shuddered, imagining she could feel the desperation and despair of the quarians who had franticly built them as the geth closed in from all sides, massacring the entire quarian population as the last tattered remnants of the navy tried to hold them off long enough for these 3 ships to be completed. The liveships were a sheer desperate scream given physical form, a frantic prayer to the galaxy to please, please, please just let the last survivors of a broken people live.

 _Tesleya_ was given clearance to dock with one of _Rayya's_ outer airlocks and the two quarians gestured to the door. Anita Goyle squared her shoulders and walked confidently to the airlock, giving away nothing of what she was feeling.

It was show-time.

* * *

 **Sur'Kesh – Annos Basin**

 **2113.04.02**

* * *

Dalatrass Solus, Tsarina of the Salarian Union, watched the human shuttles touch down with amusement.

Intense study of human history had led the Union's best researchers to conclude that the period of human history when their governance was closest to that of the Salarian Union was that of medieval Europe.

Salarian government consisted of clans who acted approximately like human aristocratic families. They were controlled by the elected head of the family (a female salarian known as a dalatrass) who then use the family's power and influence to arrange breeding strategies, intent on climbing the political ladder through alliances sealed through marriage.

Also like medieval Europe, these clans controlled various territories which increased in size and value as the power and prestige of the controlling family increased. Amusingly to Dalatrass Solus, the human's diplomatic packet had given these ranks the equivalent human aristocratic titles, as the actual salarian designation was unpronounceable to them.

According to these human ranks, Dames controlled towns and the surrounding countryside, Baronesses controlled cities, and Countesses controlled planetary regions. Duchesses controlled planets and Grand Duchesses controlled clusters.

Together the Grand Duchesses formed the Cabinet of the Salarian Union which was its primary governing body. However, the 12 most powerful among them manoeuvred themselves into the Inner Cabinet, the only salarians to see all of the intelligence available to the Union, and more importantly the only ones who could act on it. From their number they elected one to serve as the leader of the Salarian Union, the Tsarina.

The Tsarina was the one charged with authorising and overseeing the black projects of the STG, the projects that even the Inner Cabinet were not permitted to know about.

Smiling fondly at the memory of her election to Tsarina, Dalatrass Solus looked over at her companion, Dalatrass Bau, Grand Duchess of the Annos basin.

"Am highly amused by human choice of ambassadors. Thoughts?"

"Hoping to curry favour? Sending representatives familiar to salarian governmental system. Hoping for recognition of achievement of human dynasties, perhaps respect of fellow dalatrasses?" Dalatrass Bau replied.

"Agreed. Naive," Dalatrass Solus stated with disappointment, shaking her head slightly. The Salarian Union would always negotiate on hard facts. Emotion had no place in the game of thrones, and even less in the game of nations.

The salarian port master, specifically chosen for this occasion and trained not to insult their guests, announced their arrival to the delegation waiting behind the two dalatrasses.

"Tsarina Solus and Grand Duchess Bau welcome you to Sur'Kesh, your majesties."

He turned to face the two salarian leaders before continuing. "Dalatrasses, may I present Anne the Second, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and Queen of her other realms. May I also present Noriyoshi, Heavenly Sovereign of the Chrysanthemum Throne."

"It is a pleasure to welcome you to Sur'Kesh in person, cousins," Dalatrass Solus stated warmly, using the human tradition of fellow monarchs addressing each other as 'cousin' whether or not they were actually related.

Among humans it was used to prevent every meeting between monarchs descending into a battle over order of preference based on the power of the monarch's kingdoms. Dalatrass Solus used it to attempt to build the bond that the humans so obviously intended to create with their choice of ambassadors.

If that bond would exist only in the humans's minds, and be exploited for all it was worth by the salarian Tsarina, well, that was the game of nations, and the humans should have been more careful.

"It is an honour, cousin," Queen Anne II replied, smiling and waving regally to the crowd as Emperor Noriyoshi projected calm dignity, his eyes searching for the salarian most encumbered by data slates and noting them as a person to watch.

"We have much to discuss."

* * *

 _Codex Entry: The Government of the Systems Alliance – The Lower Legislative House (Grand Assembly)_

 _(Citadel Codex, First Human SPECTRE Collector's Edition, 2183)_

* * *

 _The Systems Alliance leaves as much government as possible in the hands of its member nations and colonies._

 _However, there are two additional levels of government to provide services that are just not practical to be done on a small scale, the single chamber Custer Assemblies and the dual chamber Systems Alliance Parliament._

 _The lower house of the Systems Alliance Parliament is known as the Grand Assembly. While it contains 600 voting members, it actually contains 640 members total as of 2183. The additional 40 non-voting members are:_

 _x1 Speaker (Elected by the 604 MPs from among themselves by secret STV ballot. This MP forfeits their vote upon election to maintain impartiality.)_

 _x3 Deputy Speakers (Elected by the 604 MPs from among themselves by secret STV ballot. These MPs forfeit their votes upon election to maintain impartiality.)_

 _x4 Expert Cabinet Ministers (Non-MPs appointed by the Prime Minister and confirmed by the Grand Assembly, they sit in the Grand Assembly without voting power so that they can be held to account by the MPs during debates.)_

 _x32 Tribunes. (Please see codex entry below)_

 _Each cluster of the Systems Alliance is granted a number of representatives based on its population. Due to the sheer numbers present, Earth is counted as its own entity for this purpose._

 _This presents a problem for the Systems Alliance in that it leaves sparsely populated areas, such as asteroid, moon and dome colonies, at the mercy of the tyranny of the majority. Living on shirt sleeve worlds, these voters vastly outnumber their dome and station colony counterparts, but have little understanding of the unique challenges that these worlds provide._

 _Some old Earth nations attempted to solve this problem with their governments by having the second chamber be composed of the same number of representatives from each region regardless of size. While this did protect the population of the more sparsely populated areas, it also gave them a disproportionate amount of political power._

 _One of the most extreme examples comes from the United States Senate. The smallest 21 states have a population less than that of California, yet the regional representation strategy gives the population of those states 42 senators whereas the population of California only gets 2._

 _This would be less of a problem if the US Constitution did not make several important government functions, such as appointment conformations, exclusively the preserve of the Senate and not the House AND Senate. This leaves the population of large states severely underrepresented in several important areas of government such as confirming foreign treaties and confirming cabinet, judicial, and supreme court nominees._

 _Rather than solve the democratic deficit problem, the method of fixed number regional representatives reversed it, leaving the population of larger areas at the mercy of the tyranny of the minority. As such the Alliance looked for other methods to solve the problem and decided on the Tribune system, explained below._

 _A General Election to elect MPs to the Grand Assembly is held every 6 years by Single Transferable Vote (STV)._

 _If an election is called early due to the government losing the confidence of the Grand Assembly, then the new government will serve only until the next scheduled election date UNLESS that date is less than 24 months away. In which case the next election will be held in 7-8 years instead of 1-2_

 _There is a strict spending limit imposed on each political party for national campaigning and each candidate for local campaigning. If the courts find this has been breached, the affected candidates are removed as MPs and the election is rerun for their seats. The convicted MPs may also be banned from running for any elected position ever again and can be jailed for up to 5 years based on the severity of the breach._

* * *

 _Codex Entry: The Government of the Systems Alliance – The Lower Legislative House (Grand Assembly - Tribunes)_

 _(Citadel Codex, First Human SPECTRE Collector's Edition, 2183)_

* * *

 _To avoid the tyranny of the majority without creating the tyranny of the minority the Systems Alliance looked even further back, to the Roman Republic and the Tribunes of Plebs._

 _Updating them to the modern day, the Systems Alliance created the elected position of Tribune. All of the station colonies in a cluster will elect one tribune via STV, all of the dome colonies in a cluster will also elect one Tribune via STV. The shirt sleve worlds and Earth contain the vast majority of the Alliance population and so do not require protection from the tyranny of the majority as they ARE the majority. As of 2183, the Systems Alliance controls 16 clusters and so 32 tribunes sit in the Grand Assembly._

 _Once the 600 voting MPs of the Grand Assembly pass an act, the 32 Tribunes of the Grand Assembly then vote on it._

 _If a majority of the Tribunes vote against the act, then the act is put up for amendment and vote by the MPs again. It requires a supermajority (2/3rds) to override a Tribune's veto. As such if the MPs do not have the numbers to override, they must amend the act to gain the Tribunes support so that they allow it to pass when they vote on the amended act._

 _If the Tribunes unanimously veto the act then it is dead. A unanimous Tribune veto is absolute, there is no way for the MPs or for the government to override it._

 _Tribunes are elected in the same General Election as MPs. They are forbidden from being members of political parties, as such each candidate that is successfully nominated for Tribune in the election receives 4 free leaflet drops and 2 televised debates provided by the cluster government._

 _To prevent rich supporters buying the election for their favourite candidate, requiring the development of Tribune political parties to counter them, these six events are the only election activities Tribune candidates and their campaigns are permitted to spend money on._

 _Rallies, personal comms calls, and door knocking are all unlimited provided the venues/canvassers/organisers are unpaid volunteers._

* * *

 _Codex Entry: The Government of the Systems Alliance – The Cluster Assemblies_

 _(Citadel Codex, First Human SPECTRE Collector's Edition, 2183)_

* * *

 _The Cluster Assemblies are single chamber regional governments that are a carbon copy of the lower house of the federal Parliament (Grand Assembly). The only differences are that their leaders are known as First Minister instead of Prime Minister and that the Secretary of State for Sapient Rights and Cluster Government performs the duties that the head of state performs for the federal Parliament. Their responsibilities are modelled on the state governments of the United States and they generally contain 60 – 200 voting members, at the discretion of each individual cluster._

* * *

 **Timeline Changes So Far**

 _First colony on mars: 27 years earlier than canon_

 _Discovery of Prothean ruins: 64 years earlier than canon_

 _Founding of the Systems Alliance (council of nations version): 63 years earlier than canon_

 _First Contact War: 45 years earlier than canon_

 _Founding of the Systems Alliance (parliamentary super state version): 44 years earlier than canon_

 _Citadel Ascension Process: 52 years longer than canon (humans become an Associate Race 7 years later than canon)_


	23. Chapter 23

_Standard disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect, nor any other content that you recognise. Some characters and systems are original creations. I am receiving no money for my work._

* * *

 _My thanks to HTM for sorting through my spelling and grammar._

* * *

 **Question**

 _Following a couple of questions, the quarian economy is canon. Please see the quarian section of the mass effect wiki for conformation. The developers simply didn't name it so as to avoid controversy as the USA was a huge target market for the game. The in depth look at how it works is my own design._

 _To answer a question I'm sure is coming from this chapter, Ekuna is also canon._

* * *

 **XNAV: 534.746 / 893.782 / 12.29 – Attican Traverse**

 **2113.04.02**

* * *

Ambassador Goyle looked at the vast space of the centre of the liveship _Rayya_.

In any other species it would have been considered a tired and worn room, in dire need of repair, even if the vegetation cascading down from the different levels hid the worst of it.

Anita knew better. In the world of limited space of the quarians, this cavern screamed importance in a louder voice than any gold leafed palace ever could.

Around on the various tiers were the representatives of the quarian Conclave. Despite the room being huge by quarian standards, it was still only the size of a normal town theatre on Earth. As such only 1,000 representatives could be there in person. To ensure all 50,000 ships of the migrant fleet were properly represented, they were divided into groups of 10. The single representative present in person vocalised any questions and comments that the other 9 attending over commlink raised.

Against the only non-tiered wall in the room stood a two-level raised platform with podiums. The highest held the 5 podiums of the quarian Admiralty Board, and the lower, single, podium was for the Speaker of the Conclave.

It was the Speaker who called for Ambassador Goyle to step forward into the clear courtyard in the centre of the room, the place where petitioners and opponents of a proposed course of action made their case.

"Welcome to the Migrant Fleet, Ambassador Goyle. The gift of the _Gaia_ was a momentous one, and for that the Systems Alliance has the sincerest thanks of the quarian people, as well as the chance to lay its proposal before the Conclave," the Speaker greeted the human ambassador warmly as the rest of the Conclave murmured and clapped in agreement. The sight of the massive superliner accompanying the _Tonbay_ and the _Tesleya_ had produced a celebratory mood that was rarely found among the ships of the Migrant Fleet.

"Thank you, Speaker," Anita Goyle responded, bowing to them and the Admiralty Board. "The human people are appalled at your treatment at the hands of the Citadel Council, and wish to aid you in any way that we can."

"Will you be granting us colonisation rights on the two dextro-amino worlds in your territory then?" Representative Zaal'Koris, one of the youngest – but also most articulate – representatives of the colonisation faction called out.

"I am truly sorry, but we will not give you those worlds…"

"But they're useless to you!"

Ambassador Goyle was surprised to hear the angry exclamation come from not any of the representatives, but from Rael'Zorah from his place with the human marine and migrant fleet marine guards.

From the way Shala'Raan turned to face him it appeared that she was just as surprised, but no reprimand was forthcoming from the Speaker or the Admiralty Board. It seemed that even though he wasn't a representative, the young Ensign Zorah had captured the mood of the Conclave perfectly as their earlier friendliness vanished, and angry muttering spread around the room.

Anita knew that such hostility was caused mostly by how refusing to give the dextro worlds in human territory to the quarians was completely at odds with both her opening statement and the gift of the _SV Gaia_ , portraying humans as an unreliable, treacherous, and two-faced race.

She ignored the growing anger and chose her words carefully.

"If it was solely a human decision, we would give those worlds to you. But the Alliance needs to be a Citadel race, we will be overwhelmed and enslaved by our neighbours if we are not."

She shuddered, purely for dramatic purposes, as she was sure that everyone present knew that the Alliance's entire southern border faced the Batarian Hegemony.

"As much as we wish to help, we know what will happen if we do. When the Migrant Fleet attempted to settle Ekuna, even though it was discovered by the Migrant Fleet and had an environment that was far from ideal for any Citadel species, the Citadel Council still took it from you. They forced your colonists to leave or face orbital bombardment from the Citadel Fleet's guns, then gave the planet you had worked so hard to discover to the elcor."

As expected, the anger remained but its target changed at the reminder of the fate of the only colonisation attempt that the Migrant Fleet had ever made.

Politically, it had badly damaged the colonisation faction and they hadn't really ever recovered. The reclamation faction had been growing ever since, and so all of the Migrant Fleet's spare resources were spent on searching for new ways to combat the geth, rather than search for colonisation prospects.

The reclamation faction were determined to finally win the war and take back Rannoch from those that had driven them away, no matter the cost.

The Admiral of the Heavy Fleet, Keenah'Gazu vas Neema spoke up harshly. "You fear that if you give us those worlds, the Citadel Council will terminate your ascension process and, even if they don't move against you directly, leave you in an untenable position given your southern neighbours."

"Yes. It does neither of us any good if, by attempting to help, all we do is join you in exile," Ambassador Goyle replied simply and honestly, watching as the mood of the Conclave changed again to disappointment.

"I think that, disappointed as we are, we can't blame the humans for the Citadel Council forcing them to take colonisation off the table," Zaal'Koris's voice was rich with disappointment, but also understanding. The quarians had enough enemies already, they didn't need to aggravate one of the few races that actually had a positive opinion of them.

A general rumble of agreement reverberated through the Conclave before the Speaker addressed Ambassador Goyle again.

"I take it that you have an alternative proposal to make, Ambassador?"

"Indeed," Anita replied. "The Alliance is engaged in a complete fleet redesign to make maximum use of all of the new technologies available in Citadel space in our new generation of warships. We would greatly value quarian input in this process."

"And what would we get in return?" Shala'Raan spoke up.

"The _SV Gaia_ has two sister ships, the _SV Gilgamesh_ and the _SV Galadriel_. We will give you both of them."

The Conclave was stunned into silence. The opportunity to double the number of liveships in the Migrant Fleet, to increase their population by hundreds of thousands, it was a dream that no one had ever thought would happen, and now it was within their grasp. And it was being offered for the price of only a couple of dozen advisors.

"That seems… unusually generous, Ambassador. Perhaps you can understand our disbelief," Shala'Raan followed up on her original question from her place in the representative's tiers.

"Of course," Antia smiled warmly as she explained.

"I could stand here and try to haggle and bargain, but to be brutally honest, it would feel too much like kicking someone while they are down. I am offering the most that the System Alliance is willing to offer to secure the services that we need. If you do not wish to accept, then that is entirely your right, but I'm not going to squeeze your talents from you cheaply when we can afford to pay a fair price."

Ambassador Goyle conveniently left out that squeezing the quarians hard had been exactly her plan before she had found out about their economic model. Now she was gambling that the trust and honesty that that model relied on to function would transfer over to her, and overwhelm the insult of her pointing out how weak the quarians actually were in these negotiations.

Though there was considerable angry muttering from the Conclave, especially from those representing the ships of the heavy fleet, but it appeared that a grudging respect for her bluntness was winning out.

Inwardly Ambassador Goyle sighed in relief.

"Does anyone wish to speak against the proposal?" The Speaker's question went unanswered and as such the proposal was transferred to an immediate vote.

Each Conclave member entered their vote into the system, and the Speaker read out the decision of the Conclave.

"The Vote is concluded. By 44,317 to 2,173 with 3,226 abstentions, the motion passes. Blessings upon the ancestors that guided this Conclave, keelah se'lai."

The Admiralty Board recorded their assent to the bill, marking its passage into law. Ambassdor Goyle breathed a sigh of relief. Now that her most important proposal had been accepted her mission was not going to be a failure, no matter what happened next.

The Speaker noticed that the human Ambassador had not left the petitioners courtyard.

"Do you have another proposal, Ambassador?" they asked in confusion.

"I do, Speaker."

"Why was it not included with your last one?"

"It is more controversial, I did not wish it to cause my first proposal to fail by association, should you find it unacceptable."

The Conclave quietened, intrigued, as the Speaker gestured for Ambassador Goyle to continue. "As the members of this Conclave know, the Systems Alliance is engaging in a mass upgrade of our technology, trying to bring our entire economy up to galactic standard as quickly as possible. This is a massive undertaking as it involves all parts of life, not just the military, or even the government, but all aspects of the economy will face disruption as we attempt to condense into decades what would naturally take centuries."

As a race of technical experts many quarians signalled their agreement, they knew the scale of the challenge facing the Systems Alliance. The difficulty of upgrading an entire technological base, while simultaneously ensuring that the tech base being upgraded could continue to fulfil all the requirements of daily life during the entire process, was a nightmare few would take on if they could avoid it.

"The Prime Minister and Cabinet believe, and so do I, that such an undertaking would be a lot faster, and a lot more effective, if the military, government, and civilian sectors had quarian advisors at their disposal."

There was dead silence across the entire Conclave as the enormity of that request sank in.

"Ambassador," Representative Zaal'Koris was the first to recover his voice at the sheer audacity of the request.

"To provide an advisory team for a warship development programme is one thing. This is quite another. The entire military, the government services, the civilian economy and the corporations make it up. It would take at least a million quarian advisors to do as you ask."

"We estimated that it would be nearer to two million." Anita replied mildly.

"That is 10% of our entire population," Zaal'Koris whispered in shock.

"Yes."

"And what would you be offering in exchange for this?"

Ambassador Goyle gestured over the emitter in the centre of the courtyard and a hologram appeared before the Conclave, depicting a standard Alliance shipyard.

"This is the primary shipyard of the Gemini Sigma cluster, it has one capital class dockyard slip as well as numerous cruiser and frigate slips. We are prepared to offer the Migrant Fleet the exclusive use of this shipyard, with or without its human crew, for the construction or repair of quarian ships for as long as quarian advisors are helping with the upgrade of the economy. Even with your help, we predict this will be decades."

Ambassador Goyle briefly cleared her throat before continuing. "Given the size of the Migrant Fleet we are also willing to offer the use of two of the Gemini Sigma cluster's repair stations in addition to its primary shipyard, so that the Admiralty Board's choice of repairing existing ships or constructing new ones is not mutually exclusive. Alliance repair stations are small and not suitable for construction from scratch, but they have multiple sub-capital class dockyard slips, and are rated to repair all but the most crippling damage. Again, they are available with or without their human crew, at your discretion."

"But… but… the Citadel Council…" Zaal'Koris stammered in shock, giving voice to the Conclave's turbulent emotions.

"The Citadel Council has no say over any trade negotiations that we engage in, nor in what nations or corporations we allow access to our military shipyards, not until the end of our ascension process, when we officially become a Citadel associate race," Ambassador Goyle dismissed his concerns with both a wave of her hand, and considerably more confidence than she actually felt.

It was a question of balance, of how far the Alliance could push their luck with the Council. Had they offered the quarians the two dextro worlds in their territory, the precedent of Ekuna showed that the Council would have comedown on them like a ton of bricks.

However, it was entirely legal to trade resources with the Migrant Fleet throughout Citadel space, the simple fact that no government or major corporation did so to avoid the Council's displeasure meant that a law to make it illegal had never been necessary.

With that lack of legal basis for any action, and the fact that the humans were not yet a Citadel race, Prime Minister Tharoor and the War Cabinet had decided to gamble on the fact that while the Council would scream bloody murder, they would stop short of actually taking any action. Or at least stop short of taking any action that would outweigh the benefits of millions of quarian advisors would bring to the weak and obsolete human economy.

"No!" the voice of Keenah'Gazu vas Neema thundered across the room, echoing from the walls.

"We cannot leave ourselves so vulnerable to the humans! 10% of our population scattered across their worlds? The entire Migrant Fleet deep in human territory, surrounded by their fleets? We would take millions of casualties if we ever had to fight our way out."

The Admiral of the Heavy Fleet calmed a little following her exclamation, the prize of two more superliners causing her to take on a more conciliatory tone lest she cause the humans to withdraw their first offer at the insult. "I am sorry Ambassador, I do not wish to imply that such a situation is likely. I am sure that the Systems Alliance is indeed an honourable government. But the Admiralty Board must plan for all possibilities, no matter how remote. I cannot endorse a course of action that could see us lose millions of quarians, perhaps even over half of us, if the worst-case scenario comes to pass."

"We are not exactly free from risk in this scenario, Admiral." Ambassador Goyle responded hotly. "The Space Lords protested strongly against this, they see 50,000 ships deep behind our defences as a dagger pointed at the heart of the Alliance. A worst-case scenario could easily see the visitors we greeted with open arms turn to conquerors, as our fleets would be helpless should the ships of the Migrant Fleet disperse and place all of our colonies in the Hades Gamma sector under their guns before we could concentrate our fleets enough to oppose you."

The accusation rocked the Conclave as representatives began yelling at the Ambassador, at the Admiral, and at each other. The very idea that they could be considered a military threat was novel to some quarians, and they found that they liked the sense of power that it gave them.

Others were horrified at the insult to their honour, or the insult that the Admiral Gazu had given to the humans. Still more were still in shock at the idea of three entire facilities being made available to a fleet that hadn't seen drydock in over 200 years and were just yelling for everyone to shut up so they could have a moment to think.

Finally, the Speaker managed to bring the Conclave back to order. Zaal'Koris was the first representative to be permitted to speak again.

"Speaker, Ambassador Goyle's proposal is momentous, but as both the Admiralty Board and the Ambassador pointed out, there are severe risks to both parties from it. Perhaps it would be better if Ambassador Goyle were to enjoy the hospitality of the _Rayya_ and wait elsewhere, before returning later to answer any questions we have. This would allow us to debate the legitimate concerns of the Admiralty Board without insulting each other."

Ambassador Goyle waited as the Speaker thought for a moment and then motioned Ensign Rael'Zorah forward.

"Ambassador, I believe Zaal'Koris's proposal has merit. The Ensign that accompanied you from the _Tesleya_ will accompany you anywhere on the _Rayya_ that you wish to go. As a gesture of goodwill and trust, and as an apology for any insult we may have given due to the shock of your proposal, the normal migrant fleet marine escort will be dispensed with."

"Thank you, Speaker. I look forward to answering the Conclave's questions and hearing your response to our proposal," Anita replied graciously before leaving with Rael'Zorah.

The Conclave erupted into furious debate behind her.

* * *

 **Sur'Kesh – Annos Basin**

 **2113.04.04**

* * *

Queen Anne and Emperor Noriyoshi re-entered the salarian cabinet room after the short recess.

Tsarina Souls and Grand Duchess Bau, the only salarians present, studied them carefully, but neither had enough experience with humans to read their body language.

Yet.

Of course, the STG had intercepted and decoded the human transmission, but the humans had not been so foolish as to write a message that could be understood outside of context.

The two Dalatrasses knew that 'Project Eidolon' had been a success and that that meant that the negotiating team's secondary objectives were now primary. But without context that knowledge gave them no hint to the human's actions, except that they could expect a drastic change in the human's negotiation objectives.

"Dalatrasses," Queen Anne greeted warmly. As the monarch more accustomed to public appearances, she had been taking the lead. It also suited Noriyoshi's character to remain silent and watch for weaknesses so he had been happy to take a back seat. The two humans had actually found that they greatly enjoyed working together.

"Majesties," Dalatrass Bau replied neutrally. "Recess was beneficial?"

"It was," Queen Anne replied. "I would like to confirm that you are happy with our agreement on our genetic projects before we continue on to new topics."

"Objectives have changed?" Dalatrass Bau questioned.

"You know they have, even if you do not know what they have changed to. Let us not be coy with each other, it will only delay any agreement," Emperor Noriyoshi interjected.

"Agreed," Dalatrass Souls stated calmly. "Agreement acceptable. Systems Alliance will provide manufacturing process for medigel to Citadel, Salarian Union will partner Alliance genetic research projects and randomly inspect gene therapy programme to prevent Citadel enforced termination."

"Good," Noriyoshi replied decisively. "Now, for the heart of the matter. The Asari have a Prothean data source they have not shared with the Citadel."

Both Salarians blinked rapidly.

"Serious charge, should not made lightly. Penalties for withholding Prothean technology harshest in Citadel space," Dalatrass Bau commented.

"I thought we agreed not to be coy with each other?" Queen Anne said demurely. "You are the best researchers in Citadel Space, but somehow, whenever you make a breakthrough, the asari make the same breakthrough only months later. And to add insult to injury often the asari method is more elegant, error free, and refined as if they have known how to do whatever the new breakthrough is for decades."

"Whatever you try you can't keep a tech advantage over the asari for more than a few months. As soon as it becomes relatively public knowledge, the asari repeat your breakthrough in a tiny fraction of the time it took you to research and develop it and regain the title of most advanced race in the galaxy."

Both salarians simply stared at the two human monarchs, giving nothing away as Queen Anne waited for a moment, then elaborated. "You are not foolish. You know that the only way they could do this is if they have a Prothean resource that they have not revealed to the galaxy, despite the laws that they themselves wrote."

"If true, asari would not need us to develop technology first. Large flaw in your argument," Dalatrass Solus fenced with the Queen and the Emperor.

"Unless it is damaged, or has strict limits, or was intended as an uplift station," Emperor Noriyoshi fenced back effortlessly.

"Perhaps it will not provide any information that it does not believe you already possess? Ask it for information on metal alloys and it will tell you nothing. Tell it how you produce steel and it will correct your production process, as if upgrading a daimyo's town to the shogun's standard."

"If true, would have exposed them before entire Citadel. All Prothean artefacts to be shared. No exceptions. Law is clear," Dalatrass Bau was emphatic.

"Only if you can prove it," Queen Anne spoke up, the very picture of innocence despite her words. "The very nature of the courts means that it doesn't matter what you know is true. It only matters what you can prove is true."

"You are far more dangerous than appearances suggest, cousin," Dalatrass Souls spoke sharply.

"Thank you, cousin," Queen Anne replied smiling sweetly.

"Suggestions?" Dalatrass Bau asked after a moments silence.

"The Prothean ruins on Mars are some of the most extensive technologically intact sites ever discovered in Citadel Space," Queen Anne responded, confirming the STG reports that the two dalatrasses had read. "And more importantly, it seems to have been set up to be operated primarily by the non-Prothean races of the Prothean Empire. A lot of it doesn't use the direct interface system that true Protheans used that no one can figure out how to activate. Much of it uses the same physical computer interface system that you find in the lower-class areas of Prothean ruins."

The STG reports had not contained that nugget of information.

"Non-true Prothean interface system would make information substantially easier to access," Dalatrass Bau stated in shock, unable to stop her eyes widening in surprise.

"Potential increase in information extraction compared to existing functional Prothean sites… substantial," Dalatrass Solus noted, breathing deeply as she calculated variables.

"We are prepared to offer you exclusive access to the Mars ruins alongside our own research teams. While all Citadel races, council and associate, will legally be allowed access when we become a Citadel race, until then you will be the only Citadel race with access."

"Your demands? Aid salarian advisors can give to Alliance substantial," Dalatrass Souls commented already planning on how to use the advisor's guiding hands to drive the humans down a development path that would benefit the Salarian Union.

"Your council vote," Queen Anne answered as if she were discussing the weather.

"… what?"

Both dalatrasses looked stunned, shocked practically to silence by the answer.

"In return for access to the Mars ruins, the Salarian Union will pledge to vote the way the Systems Alliance requests in the Citadel Council. This pledge will be single use, but there will be no restrictions on what the matter before the Council might be when it is activated. It might be a simple trade dispute, or it might be a declaration of war."

Dalatrass Bau seemed unable to process the sheer audacity of the human's proposal.

Dalatrass Solus simply stared at Queen Anne.

"Will take it to the Inner Cabinet."

"Thank you, Tsarina Solus," Anne replied, still the picture of regal innocence.

Dalatrass Solus marked Anne as more dangerous than most of the salarian Grand Duchesses, and raised her glass to the Queen.

* * *

 **The Citadel – The Serpent Nebula**

 **2113.04.06**

* * *

"So now the spirits dammed primitives are dealing with the fucking suit rats."

Corinthus Oraka wasn't angry, he had passed that stage some time ago and was now simply depressed, as if nothing the humans did surprised him anymore.

Matriarch Tevos Calis was of the opinion that she had never felt so much stress and frustration in so short amount of time, even if this time it was accompanied by a tiny amount of very grudging admiration for the primary human ambassador. Anita Goyle would have made a good Matriarch.

As usual, she let none of it show in her voice.

"We should have seen this coming. Of course the humans would reach out to the quarians, they have much to gain and little to lose."

"Agreed," Councillor Tolan stated. "Antagonistic attitude to Council means little loss from our displeasure. Potential rewards from quarian advisors and technical ability vast. Price of purchase cheap due to quarian weakness."

The only salarian to deny his clan and use his first name only, as his hatching before all of the dalatrasses of the Union to ensure equal loyalty to all clans guaranteed, simply shook his head in disbelief.

"Large failure of STG and diplomatic corps, forgot humans do not share experience of irresponsible vagrants's actions unleashing geth upon galaxy. Wargaming of human diplomatic activity proceeded under false assumption."

He breathed deeply. "Predictions total failure. Must reset starting conditions and re-run model if not to be caught out again."

Councillor Oraka poured himself a large glass of the finest turian brandy. "I take it this is the part where you both tell me there's nothing we can do?"

Councillor Tevos allowed herself a small grimace. "Legally, we are in a very difficult position. There are no laws that we can apply to this situation, it's not illegal to trade with the quarians as the threat of our displeasure has always been enough to discourage people."

"We could create new laws and enforce them retroactively, or add the Migrant Fleet to the existing sanctioned states list," Oraka muttered.

"Even if we managed to get the humans to agree, and remember that they are not obligated to follow our rulings until their ascension process is complete, it would play very badly in the corporate world. It would be clear that we are creating new laws to ban legal commercial deals that the humans have already entered into. As there has been no change in the quarian's activities to justify such a sudden change in policy, many industry leaders will not be happy about the precedent, the volus clan leaders first among them."

Corinthus grimaced as he was reminded of the influence that the Vol Protectorate had over the turian's diplomatic policy in peacetime. There were huge benefits to the Hierarchy of having the volus run their economy, but right now he just wanted to tell them to fuck off and legislate the humans into a cage that they couldn't escape from.

"So we, the three most powerful races in the galaxy, have no options except a nice forceful declaration of meaningless words."

"Not true. Have many options. Simply all bad," Tolan replied calmly. "Would all result in massive domestic commercial and public relations damage, or termination of human ascension process."

"Would that be such a bad thing?" Councillor Oraka muttered, the humiliation of a turian Admiral being shot, executed, by jumped up pyjaks playing through his head again, as it had for the last several weeks.

"Yes," Tolan elaborated. The salarian already knew that Corinthus already knew the answer, but needed to be reminded. "Rouge nation so deep within Citadel space total nightmare, too many access points to police when government actively helping anti-citadel elements. Too costly to occupy long term even if initial invasion easy."

"If do not invade batarians will, and if humans do not survive batarian invasion, situation worse. New worlds, slaves, and industrial base gives batarians massive boost, almost to Council Race level. Desired outcome for you?"

Councillor Tevos tried to soothe Oraka as she shot her salarian colleague a warning glare for rubbing salt into the turian's wounded pride.

"It appears that Anita Goyle has one of the best qualities a diplomat can possess; the ability to know just how far you can push someone before you force them to take action. She knows giving the damn tramps planets is the line, and she's pushing as close as she possibly can. It's impressive, really, in one so young. Many would have misjudged where the line is, and either been ineffective or led their nation into disaster. But she's shown her hand. We will be ready for her next time."

Corinthus Oraka sneered at his asari colleague before downing his brandy and heading to the door. "I'll leave you alone to sing the primitives praises. When you're done, do try to remember that the meaningless words we send to them are at least supposed to sound like we're chastising them."

* * *

 **Hagalaz – Hourglass Nebula**

 **Intercepted Communications Log: Cooperative High Value Assets List**

 **2113.04.06**

* * *

 _From: ERROR – User Not Found_

 _To: SPECTRE Agent Tela Vasir_

 _The humans are running unchecked, meeting with success at every turn. The Council can do nothing to stop them without making things worse, but someone has to before they get totally out of control. I am calling in the favour you owe me Vasir, report to the Citadel for assignment. Don't use the SPECTRE office and don't contact the others, this is off the books._

 _From: SPECTRE Agent Tela Vasir_

 _To: ERROR – User Not Found_

 _On my way Councillor. Remember: this makes us even._

* * *

 _ **Codex Entry: The Government of the Systems Alliance – The Upper Legislative House (Sabha ka Gyaan)**_

 _(Citadel Codex, First Human SPECTRE Collector's Edition, 2183)_

* * *

 _With the role that most nation states assign to their upper house filled by the Tribunes in the Grand Assembly (Lower House) the Systems Alliance was free to look elsewhere for ideas of the role the upper house should take, they settled on Canada and Ireland._

 _The result was the Sabha ka Gyaan – in English: the Assembly of Knowledge._

 _It consists of 201 members, of which 200 are voting, who are appointed rather than elected. The non-voting member is the Speaker, who may only vote in the event of a tie. The members of the Sabha all have years, usually decades, of experience in different areas of life and range from doctors and scientists, through captains of industry and trade union leaders, to artists and playwrights._

 _The appointment system allows those who would never win an election, such as those who have no charisma, are terrified of public speaking, or have difficult pasts that, despite turning their lives around, would sink any political campaign, to serve their nation and offer their lifetimes of valuable experience to the members of the Grand Assembly when drafting laws._

 _Members of the Sabha ka Gyaan are appointed for 12 year terms and the entire chamber is appointed at once. This process is timed to occur in the middle of every other 6 year parliamentary term, so that it does not interfere with the general election campaign._

 _A replication of the Senates of Canada and Ireland, the Sabha ka Gyaan is appointed and as such has no democratic mandate. This means that there is never any question that the Grand Assembly is supreme in Parliament, avoiding the damaging battles between elected houses, such as the Deputies/Senate battles in Italy and the House/Senate battles in the USA, when two elected houses battle over who's democratic mandate is more valid._

 _As a consequence of this lack of democratic mandate, the Sabha can only delay laws with which it disagrees. It cannot veto them._

 _Known colloquially as the 'chamber of sober second thought' the Sabha ka Gyaan is a revising chamber. When a law arrives from the Grand Assembly, the AMs (Assembly Members) study the proposal in detail, first in committees and then as a whole._

 _Less confrontational than the elected Grand Assembly, the Sabha will often make many small amendments, and less often large revisions, to laws and send them back to the lower house. The lower house can then accept or reject the upper house's proposed changes and send it back to the Sabha ka Gyaan for approval (if they accepted the changes) or for the AMs to amend and revise the legislation again if the Grand Assembly rejected some or all of their last changes._

 _The Sabha ka Gyaan can only amend and revise legislation twice. When the Grand Assembly sends it to them for the third time, the AMs must vote to pass it, whether the changes they proposed the last two times were accepted or not. This is the constitutional recognition that as the democratically elected chamber, the will of the Grand Assembly is more important than the Sabha ka Gyaan's reservations._

 _Though rarely used, the Sabha ka Gyaan does have the power to introduce and create legislation itself and send it to the Grand Assembly for consideration rather than just reacting to what the lower house produces. Due to the greater technical expertise present in the upper house, the government has often asked the Sabha to produce legislation on detailed technical issues and send it to the lower house, so that the Grand Assembly has a basic framework to debate from rather than starting from scratch._

 _ **Appointment Process**_

 _The appointment process to become a member of the Sabha ka Gyaan comes in three stages._

 _In the first stage, 2 years before the new session begins, the entire Alliance population can submit suggestions for people that they wish to be members of the Sabha ka Gyaan._

 _One year after the nominations period was announced, the nominations close and the second stage, eligibility filtering begins._

 _To be eligible to be a member a person must be:_

 _A citizen of the Systems Alliance_

 _Of voting age (16 standard years old and over)_

 _Not a member of a political party_

 _Be healthy enough (as standard or with treatment) to faithfully discharge the duties of an Assembly Member physically and mentally._

 _Have great experience in an area of life such as, but not limited to: Social Services, Education, Higher Education, NGOs, Agriculture, Industry, Culture, Arts, Literature, Health, Trade Unions, Science or Commerce_

 _The list of nominated persons is examined and people who are not eligible are removed from it. The people remaining on the list are then contacted and asked if they would we willing to serve on the Sabha ka Gyaan._

 _Once the list has been reduced to only those people who are both eligible and willing to serve, the 600 people with the most nominations are selected to move on to stage 3._

 _In stage 3 a Citizens Assembly of 100 members is formed._

 _A Citizens Assembly is similar to a jury in that its members are selected randomly from the electoral roll in accordance with the Alliance's demographics. (ie: only so many % university graduates, only so many % in each age bracket, only so many % on minimum wage etc…)_

 _As such it is as close to a fair and unbiased body as it is possible to assemble._

 _The Citizens Assembly then takes the list of 600 eligible and willing people, nominated by the people of the Systems Alliance, and debates their various merits among themselves._

 _Over the course of 6 months they will select the 200 voting members of the Sabha ka Gyaan, and another member to serve as Speaker, from that list of 600. The Citizens Assembly will disband upon the completion of this duty._

 _Should a vacancy occur due to illness, death, resignation or impeachment of an AM during the 12 year term, the Speaker will select a candidate from the remaining 399 people on the list that the Citizens Assembly was given. The Sabha ka Gyaan will then vote to confirm or veto the Speaker's choice._

* * *

 **Timeline Changes So Far**

 _First colony on mars: 27 years earlier than canon_

 _Discovery of Prothean ruins: 64 years earlier than canon_

 _Founding of the Systems Alliance (council of nations version): 63 years earlier than canon_

 _First Contact War: 45 years earlier than canon_

 _Founding of the Systems Alliance (parliamentary super state version): 44 years earlier than canon_

 _Citadel Ascension Process: 52 years longer than canon (humans become an Associate Race 7 years later than canon)_


	24. Chapter 24

_Standard disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect, nor any other content that you recognise. Some characters and systems are original creations. I am receiving no money for my work._

* * *

 _My thanks to HTM for sorting through my spelling and grammar._

* * *

 _ **Apologies**_

* * *

 _I am very sorry that this has taken me so long to write. I have been working on my election campaign and it has been a very long, hard slog. The UK has local elections tomorrow (Thursday 2_ _nd_ _of May 2019) and I will be standing as a candidate for the Liberal Democrats. Wish me luck! If you weren't going to vote, then this poor exhausted author would love it if you'd think about going to vote in solidarity with me tomorrow, it is going to be a long day on the campaign trail and then counting through the night. Who needs sleep eh?_

* * *

 **Tang System – Gemini Sigma**

 **2113.06.09**

* * *

Han'Gerrel vas Neema stood in his position at the weapons station on the bridge of the _Neema,_ one of the last quarian heavy cruisers in existence, and flagship of the Heavy Fleet.

As the flagship, _Neema_ was leading the vanguard of the Heavy Fleet towards the beautiful blue-green world of Guangxi. It was one of the three former Chinese colonies that had broken away from their mother country to form the Celestial Peoples Republic, and join the Systems Alliance.

More specifically, _Neema_ was leading the vanguard towards the sprawling complex in orbit that was the primary military shipyard for the Gemini Sigma cluster.

Only Sol's shipyards and the fleet bases at the sector capitals were larger, and all of the shipyard's industrial might would soon be at the disposal of the Migrant Fleet.

More ships of the Heavy Fleet, and the vanguard of the Patrol Fleet began to enter through the relay, moving to secure the Tang system as the standard Alliance Navy patrols continued on their de-jure assignments. Even though it was clear to even a casual observer that they were no longer in control of system patrol and defence on anything but paper.

Admiral Keenah'Gazu looked up at Ambassador Goyle as she stood next to her, watching the final result of more than two months of negotiations.

"I never thought I would see the day that the Migrant Fleet finally entered drydock," the Admiral spoke in awe. Despite her reservations, this was a huge opportunity for the Migrant Fleet, and she was going to seize it with both hands.

"To be honest, neither did I at several points," Anita replied wearily, massaging the front of her armoured helmet.

"It helps when humans have headaches," she replied to Admrial Gazu's querying look. "It doesn't do anything with this helmet on, but old habits die hard, and it seems even the mere memory of the Conclave can induce headaches."

The quarian admiral laughed as she looked at the data file on her omnitool. The docking schedule for the Heavy Fleet's ships had been finalized weeks ago, and it would see all of the Heavy Fleet repaired and looking like new within a few months. Civilian ships were at the back of the repair queue. They were relatively easy to come by, but to survive – and one day take back Rannoch – the quarians needed warships, and no one was willing to sell them operational warships.

Despite everything that had been said, and all the arguments that were still giving the human ambassador headaches, it had been worth it. The Heavy Fleet would be repaired, and then new construction would begin. New quarian warships would begin launching from a shipyard for the first time in over 200 years.

"By the way, happy birthday," Keenah said warmly, smiling behind her mask. "None of this would be possible without you so please accept this, it's my family's pattern."

The Admiral passed a colourful piece of patterned cloth to Ambassador Goyle. The cloth acted as a headscarf, shrouding the pipes and cables of quarian suits life support systems as they entered the back of their helmets, serving the practical purpose of preventing anything catching on them.

As it was such an easy and cheap thing to customise, the headscarf had become one of the very few items of fashion that the quarians allowed themselves. Colours were chosen according to individual taste, but over time families had decided to each use a unique pattern. It had become a way of having a physical connection to your other family members, who were usually on other ships of the migrant fleet.

Anita Goyle smiled genuinely as she wrapped the headscarf around her armoured helmet. "My mother in law is going to be so pleased that I'm finally wearing a headscarf, and so annoyed that it was an alien that finally succeeded where she's failed for 20 years."

Admiral Gazu laughed along with her friend.

Suddenly Anita lurched forward and grabbed the back of the command chair.

"Ambassador?" Keenah'Gazu rose, concerned.

"I…."

Anita Goyle didn't say another word, she simply collapsed face first onto the deck of the bridge.

"Ambassador?!" There was no response to Keenah's yell.

"Medic to the bridge!"

The call went out but Keenah'Gazu found herself staring down the barrel of the guns of the human marines.

"Stay back."

The command was gruff and to the point as one marine secured the hatch and two more kept their guns on the bridge crew. The fourth rushed to the fallen human ambassador and his omnitool lit up showing lifesigns.

" _Admiral,"_ Han'Gerrel spoke on the bridge crew's suit to suit communication network. Designed to allow them to communicate in case of atmospheric loss and main comms failure, it now served as a way to speak without the human marines knowing about it. _"I can take them."_

The young weapons officer sounded stunned despite his confidence in his abilities. He couldn't believe that people he had begun to think of as true friends were now holding them at gunpoint and had effectively pirated the _Neema_.

" _Do nothing Gerrel,"_ Admiral Gazu responded shortly, franticly assessing the situation.

" _Admiral, they're pirating the Neema! Even if the Ambassador wasn't in on it, it's too much of a coincidence. We're too far from the Migrant Fleet for help."_

Admiral Gazu wanted to scream, everything was going so wrong. Her young weapons officer was right, they were in a terrible position, but the humans could have had them in even worse positions if they were only willing to wait a few weeks, or even days, why would they strike now? And why wouldn't Anita have warned her?

Her human friend had been far to skilled, both at reading people and at obtaining information she wasn't supposed to have. There was no way that any human plan large enough to threaten the Migrant Fleet would have escaped her notice, and Keenah'Gazu was certain that Anita would have warned her if the humans planned to be treacherous. Or at least, she had been certain a few moments ago.

The human marine's movements became more frantic as he undid the clasps of Anita Goyle's armour and hurriedly stripped off the helmet and chest pieces.

Abstractly, the Admiral noted that she would have to order a level 1 decontamination of the bridge.

Shaking her head to clear the vital, but far from urgent, thought Admiral Gazu focused on the rapidly deteriorating situation.

" _Gerrel! Hack his omitool and share the results with us. Does anyone have any medical training?"_

There was silence across the network as Han'Gerrel dutifully hacked and copied the marine's omnitools readouts, then displayed them on their suits internal heads up displays. Keenah'Gazu feared the worst as the human battlefield medic appeared to panic at the readouts they were seeing.

She didn't know anything about human anatomy, but she was fairly sure that there shouldn't be that much free blood in a human's skull cavity, and that the inter-cranial pressure shouldn't be rising that fast.

" _It doesn't mean anything Admiral, this is a human trap! Ambassador Goyle must not have known about at and that's why they had to get rid of her."_ Han'Gerrel was adamant, he had decided what was happening and was now committed to the course.

" _Quiet, Gerrel!"_ Admiral Gazu snapped out, her famous temper flaring to life.

She opened her mouth to berate her lieutenant more, glad to have something that she could control even if only for a moment, when the realisation slammed into her like a freighter forgetting to fire its breaking thrusters.

Her temper.

If she hadn't become such good friends with Anita Goyle, if she wasn't certain that the Ambassador would have warned her of any human plot – charges of treason be dammed – then her first reaction wouldn't have been confusion and horror at her friend's collapse.

It would have been rage. Utter rage at the human's treachery. More than enough for her to give the order to open fire on the human vessels in system and begin a fighting retreat through the relay, running before the humans could spring whatever trap they had devised.

Whoever had done this had been banking on the sentiments she had expressed in the Conclave. They'd thought she'd see the ambassador as a sacrifice to get marines onto the bridge and decapitate the Migrant Fleet's command structure in this system.

Keenah'Gazu looked down in sorrow at the pale body of Anita Goyle.

The headscarf with the Gazu family pattern in Alliance blue and grey was still wrapped around her discarded helmet.

If she hadn't gotten so close to Anita, if she hadn't considered her a friend, then she would have fallen headlong into the trap. The shock of her friend's collapse had stopped her usual temper from flaring up and given her the few vital moments to think.

Now the time for thinking was over, it was time to take action to salvage the situation. Resolute, the Admiral of the Heavy Fleet deliberately turned her back on the human marines pointing weapons at her and addressed her bridge crew.

"Comms, inform Tang system control we are declaring a medical emergency."

"Helm: Set course for Guangxi at maximum speed."

"Yes Admiral," Helm replied, following their Admiral's lead and turning back to their console.

 _Neema_ leapt forward at full burn, roaring away from the other quarian ships without any care as to what dangers may be between them and the planet.

The marine's guns lowered marginally, the belief that the quarians hadn't done this to their charge becoming stronger, even if they weren't ready to believe it fully yet.

" _Admiral, at least issue the emergency retreat order to the other ships!"_ Han'Gerrel cried out mutinously.

Admiral Gazu turned and stared at the fallen form of Anita Goyle.

The human marine battlefield medic sat back on their heels, shaking their head and deactivating their omnitool. They picked up the headscarf she had given Anita only moments ago, and placed it gently over the human's exposed face.

Keenah'Gazu had no idea what the human death and burial customs were, but she guessed that they involved covering the face.

She checked the hacked omni-tool readouts to confirm it.

Ambassador Anita Goyle was dead.

Admiral Gazu turned towards her helm officer to order full about and begin the – PEACEFULL – retreat though the relay.

She had no evidence that the humans were not preparing a trap, only her instincts. With the death of the human ambassador, she no longer had a high-ranking human hostage either, as much as it pained her to think of her friend like that, which left them utterly exposed and under attack from an unknown source.

The Migrant Fleet's standing orders were very clear in such situations. Eliminate all possible sources of the threat and retreat. She was already stretching those orders by preparing to order the retreat without firing on all non quarian vessels, but despite that she still couldn't do it.

Her mouth wouldn't form the words.

The memory of Anita Goyle talking about how she had married outside her religious group against the wishes of her family was running through Keenah's mind on a constant loop.

'I had no idea if it was going to work out or not. Sometimes there just isn't a way of knowing for certain. In cases like that you have to decide if what you want is worth the risk, and if it is, make a leap of faith.'

Admiral Keenah'Gazu, commanding officer of the Heavy Fleet, turned away from her crew and her fallen friend and looked at the shipyard still sitting calmly in orbit of Guangxi, the words of Anita Goyle still ringing in her head.

"Comms: All other ships are to proceed as planned. They are not to deviate from the course and speed agreed with System Control."

As her bridge crew looked at her with various amounts of shock and anger, Admiral Gazu began frantically praying to the ancestors that her leap of faith wouldn't cost the Heavy Fleet dozens of its most powerful warships.

* * *

 **Vancouver – Earth**

 **2113.06.21**

* * *

Matriarch Irissa Theris, asari ambassador to the Citadel, looked back at the tops of the towers of the human city visible above the trees behind her.

The death of Ambassador Goyle had stunned the political world of the Systems Alliance. Granted most of the human population had known little about the American woman, but those involved with building the Alliance knew just how vital she had been to its success.

The prestige and influence from her successes on the Galactic stage had helped the leaders of the Alliance forge the new government, neutering political rivals and steamrollering legal roadblocks.

Now the most skilled and talented human diplomat in existence resided in a wooden coffin. And none of the Alliance Cabinet thought it was from natural causes.

To be fair to them, none of the Citadel Council thought it was from natural causes either. Oraka, Tevos, and Tolan were all scrambling, frantically trying to find out who had ordered the assassination of the human Ambassador.

Currently they had only managed to confirm one thing for certain. The humans and quarians viewed the three of them as the prime suspects.

Irissa sighed and turned back to the beautiful surroundings of Stanley Park. The clearing around beaver lake had had temporary stands and stages erected for the occasion, the lilly pad covered lake itself forming the backdrop behind the coffin.

The Matriarch plastered on a political smile as the Prime Minister of the Systems Alliance arrived.

"Prime Minister Tharoor. Please accept the sincere condolences of the Citadel Council on this terrible occasion."

Irissa held out her hand to the Indian man, but he refused to take it and just stared at her.

She calmly let her hand fall back to her side and kept her face blank, taking the snub calmly and with a grace that made the insult look childish.

"Thank you, Ambassador. The Citadel Council has been in my thoughts a lot recently, it is good to know that we are in theirs as well." Rajendra Tharoor's response was icy but Irissa took both the tone, and the implication, without showing a flicker of true emotion.

Tevos was on very thin ice with the Council of Matriarchs due to her antagonising of the humans. Irissa had no intention of joining her.

Rajendra Tharoor scoffed and swept away into the clusters of waiting dignitaries.

With Deputy Prime Minister Odang already there escorting Admiral Keenah'Gazu, Matriarch Irissa was left with the insult of being attended only by the Foreign Secretary.

Again, she let the insult slide. Even if she did not have the concern of Tevos's previous actions hovering over her like a dark cloud, the situation was very delicate.

"You handled that well, Anita wasn't exaggerating when she praised your level of control."

Irissa turned and looked down.

The Foreign Secretary, Christine Swinson, was a short, fat, woman, who's shoulder length hair, pointed nose, and round glasses gave her the overall appearance of an owl.

"I see no need to exacerbate the situation," the asari matriarch replied calmly. "Especially not at the funeral of someone I liked. Did you know she didn't show even a hint of fear when I slammed my fists into her desk hard enough to dent it?"

Swinson gave one of her trademark chuckles. "Aye. She was fucking terrified you know?"

"But she didn't show any sign of it, not even to me. Many ambassadors have actually screamed when I used that trick before."

"Did you kill her?"

Ambassador Irissa nearly fell over from the shock. "I see your reputation for bluntness is well deserved. An odd choice for Foreign Secretary."

"I let my ambassadors do all of the pretty talking." Secretary Swinson shrugged. "And you have to know that the Citadel is the prime suspect. Remove our most effective diplomat, destroy human–quarian relations, and bring Tevos's plans back into action against a weakened Alliance. It's the Council's wet dream, Tevos would be dancing for joy right now if it had worked."

"And Oraka, never underestimate the power of humiliation and vengeance as motives."

Christine Swinson blinked. Surprised.

"You're not the only one who can be blunt, madam secretary," Ambassador Irissa smiled. She liked this human, she reminded her of herself.

"Aren't you supposed to be persuading me it's not true?"

"Would you believe anything I said?" Matriarch Irissa answered honestly.

"You won't believe we had nothing to do with this until your own intelligence agencies confirm it, so what's the point in-"

Both women heard a wet thump and ignored it, but they couldn't ignore the screaming.

They span around just in time to see Rajendra Tharoor's headless corpse topple back into beaver lake with a loud splash, sending red stained water raining down on those nearest to him.

Matriarch Irissa heard a faint zipping sound, before Deputy Prime Minister Odang's head exploded and his corpse toppled forward onto one of the buffet tables, the smashing of glass mixing with the screams.

"SNIPER!"

The call was redundant at this point, and barely heard over the screams and panicking people, but Irissa was struck by the sudden thought that the three highest ranking humans were all in one place, exposed. Two were already dead while the third-

Matriarch Irissa grabbed Christine Swinson and shoved her to the ground behind her, raising a strong barrier between them and the tops of the towers of Vancouver, visible above the trees.

It wasn't a moment too soon as a third sniper shot slammed into her barrier, weakening it.

Irissa grinned as she poured more power into her barrier, savouring the rush of violence as she saw both human and her own security running towards her. Her mercenary days might be long behind her, but if they wanted her or Swinson dead, the assassin was going to have to do considerably better than that.

* * *

 **Vancouver – Earth**

 **2113.06.21**

* * *

Wachtmeister Alois Mader of the Swiss Guard looked down in awe at the African woman as she cursed and threw the sniper rifle to one side.

"That damn blue _bitch_ protected Swinson. I only got two of the fucking traitors."

Alois didn't care. He knew that even getting two of the scum selling humanity out to the aliens was an incredible achievement. Even though he had training as a sniper, he was honest enough to know that he would probably have got Rajendra Tharoor, but he wouldn't have got the others.

The African woman, who had refused to give him any name other than 'asset', composed herself and picked up the sniper rifle from where it had come to rest against one of the three dead police officers present on the rooftop.

When the Swiss Guard had been approached to become the Systems Alliance's Secret Service equivalent, just as they were for the Pope, Wachtmeister Mader had nearly resigned in protest.

When he first met like minded people, he was glad he hadn't.

When his cell commander told him to kill the three local police officers assigned to his team and await the arrival of an asset, he was certain he had made the right call.

The only thing that made him hesitate was the order to remain behind and take the blame, while letting the asset escape. He hadn't seen why he should be sacrificed for the cause while another survived and ran away. He'd almost refused, not seeing why he should take the fall alone to let his commander's daughter or something escape.

Now? Now he understood. The asset was an unparalleled sniper, she would be invaluable to Cerberus in the fight ahead.

"Sister, the rifle." Alois held out his hands. "You must escape."

The asset wiped the body of the rifle clean of evidence before handing it over.

"Cerberus thanks you for your service, brother."

Alois was amused to see a little brown makeup around the scope. It seemed even when she was killing the Prime Minister, a woman wanted to look her best.

He wiped it off as the asset disappeared into the building, ensuring that his prints and other evidence was all present on the rifle, to go along with the gunshot residue he had already exposed his clothes too. He settled down to await the arrival of his fellow Swiss Guards.

* * *

 **Vancouver – Earth**

 **2113.06.21**

* * *

The asset raced down through the building. With Wachtmeister Mader still present on the roof she had a few moments before any of the frantically scrambling Swiss Guard and Vancouver Police noticed she was within the exclusion area.

Dodging three different armed squads who weren't looking for her due to the helicopter updates reporting the assassin was still on the roof, she burst out of one of the buildings side doors into the sunlit streets of Vancouver.

Now was the most dangerous part, but she had an ace up her sleeve.

The asset biotically charged across the street into the entrance of the next building, moving so fast that the helicopters focusing on the roof, and paying only cursory attention to side entrances, missed her.

She ran through the new building, charged across the street on the other side, and repeated the process twice more before reaching the edge of the exclusion zone.

It was chaos. The police were hard pressed, trying to keep the surging crowd back, what the crowed thought they were going to do once they had broken through the police line the asset had no idea.

Neither did the police, or if they were honest with themselves, the crowd.

Regardless, it didn't matter, there was no way for anyone to get passed the police line undetected, the area behind was too empty and exposed and the asset did not have a uniform to blend in, she had deemed it too high a risk, she was too likely to encounter something that would blow her cover.

She raced up the building at the edge of the exclusion zone before entering an apartment on the thirtheenth floor. Taking care to remain inside until the last moment, she charged across the space and onto the balcony of the apartment on the opposite building.

The building outside the exclusion zone.

The asset looked down at the police line on the street below before entering into the apartment she had rented before Anita Goyle had even been assassinated. Turning on the television to the CBC news channel and setting the volume to maximum she headed for the bathroom.

Stepping out of her clothes the asset gratefully took off the wig that was part of her disguise to confuse any security cameras that had caught glimpses of her, and gratefully jumped in the shower.

She turned on the shower and listened to the chaos that was happening in the Alliance's temporary capital city.

The water turned brown as her makeup washed off her face, and her neck, her hands, her arms, her torso and her legs.

Finally free of the cursed stuff, Tela Vasir rubbed her blue skin vigorously with the bathroom towel as she went back into the living room, poured a glass of wine, and admired her handiwork.

* * *

 _ **Codex Entry: The Government of the Systems Alliance – The Governor General**_

 _(Citadel Codex, First Human SPECTRE Collector's Edition, 2183)_

* * *

 _In countries that separate the head of state from the head of government, the powers of the head of state are mostly ceremonial. The head of state of the Systems Alliance is known as the Governor General._

 _The Governor General serves for 12 years and is appointed in the middle of every other 6 year parliamentary term, so that the appointment does not interfere with a general election. As such each 6 year term will feature the appointment of either the Governor General or the Gyaan Sabha._

 _The Governor General has three rights and three duties._

 _The three rights are: The right to be consulted, the right to encourage, and the right to warn._

 _Every week the Prime Minister and the Governor General will take tea together. There will be no staff present, no minutes will be taken. At this tea, the Prime Minister will brief the Governor General on the current state of the Alliance, and the decisions facing the government._

 _As the neutral and impartial head of state, the Governor General is the one person that the Prime Minister can use as a sounding board for their ideas and problems, safe in the knowledge that the information will never be shared._

 _In return the Governor General, though maintaining absolute impartiality in public, can, at this meeting, to encourage the Prime Minister to continue with polices they think will be beneficial, as well as warning them of the dangers of continuing with others._

 _The three duties of the Governor General are some of the most vital in the Systems Alliance. The duties are:_

 _To hold the Prime Minister to account, to arbitrate coalition negotiations and appoint the Prime Minister, and to serve as temporary head of government during coalition negotiations and activation of the emergency protocols._

 _The military of the Systems Alliance swears their oath of allegiance to the Governor General rather than to the Prime Minister. This is so that if the government acts unconstitutionally, and the Supreme Court orders the impeachment and arrest of the Prime Minister, the police and military are not faced with arresting their commander in chief._

 _As dictators have used a nebulous concept of 'the people' as the only ones they are responsible to to confuse matters when they act unconstitutionally, the Alliance constitution makes it clear: The guardians are the Supreme Court. And if they find that the Prime Minister has acted unconstitutionally, then the Prime Minister is responsible to the impartial, apolitical, Governor General._

 _After an election, there are 14 days allotted for the leader of the largest party to form a coalition that can command a majority of the Grand Assembly. Should they fail to do so, the leader of the second largest party is given 14 days to try, and then the leader of the third largest party. If, after 42 days, no government can be formed, then a fresh election is called._

 _During the coalition negotiations, the Governor General acts as caretaker Prime Minister. They do not make any decisions but are simply there to provide authorisation for the day to day requirements of government and to respond to crisis such as natural disasters or declarations of war. During the negotiations, the Governor General acts as a neutral, non-political arbiter, helping to smooth over disputes._

 _When a party leader reports that they can command the confidence of the Grand Assembly, the Governor General appoints them Prime Minister._

 _The Governor General has a specific and vital role in the Emergency Protocols. For more details, see Codex Entry: Emergency Protocols – Chapter 25._

 _These duties require the utmost impartiality and a non-political nature. It is for these reasons that the Governor General of the Systems Alliance is not elected._

 _A bitter and bruising election campaign, resulting in a head of state supported by barely half the country, was decided to not be a good way of choosing a unifying figure. In any case, a person that has fought an election campaign can never be seen to be non-political again once it is over, especially not if they received an endorsement from one of the political parties._

 _Instead, the Governor General is appointed in a similar way to the to the Gyaan Sabha._

 _If a Governor General is seen to act in a political or non-impartial manner, or in another way that compromises their role as a unifying figure, then the MPs of the Grand Assembly can announce a recall petition. If it gains the support of 10% or more of the MPs, then the Governor General faces an Alliance wide vote of confidence._

 _In a vote of confidence, the Governor General must secure 75% or more of the vote to remain in office. If they secure 50% - 75% they must still resign as although they have majority support, they are no longer seen as a unifying figure._

 _ **Appointment Process**_

 _The appointment process for the Governor General is as follows._

 _In the first stage, 2 years before the new appointment is due, the entire Alliance population can submit suggestions for people that they wish to be the new Governor General._

 _One year and 9 months after the nominations period was announced, the nominations close and the second stage, eligibility begins._

 _To be eligible to be a member a person must be:_

 _Be seen to be capable of being impartial in all circumstances_

 _A citizen of the Systems Alliance_

 _Of voting age (16 standard years old and over)_

 _Not a member of a political party_

 _Be healthy enough (as standard or with treatment) to faithfully discharge the duties of the Governor General physically and mentally._

 _Have great experience in an area of life such as, but not limited to: Social Services, Education, Higher Education, NGOs, Agriculture, Industry, Culture, Arts, Literature, Health, Trade Unions, Science or Commerce_

 _The list of nominated persons is examined and people who are not eligible are removed from it. The people remaining on the list are then contacted and asked if they would we willing to serve as Governor General._

 _Once the list has been reduced to only those people who are both eligible and willing to serve, the 40 people with the most nominations are selected to move on to stage 3._

 _In stage 3 a Citizens Assembly of 100 members is formed._

 _A Citizens Assembly is similar to a jury in that its members are selected randomly from the electoral roll in accordance with the Alliance's demographics. (ie: only so many % university graduates, only so many % in each age bracket, only so many % on minimum wage etc…)_

 _As such it is as close to a fair and unbiased body as it is possible to assemble._

 _The Citizens Assembly then takes the list of 40 eligible and willing people nominated by the people of the Systems Alliance and debates their various merits among themselves._

 _Over the course of 3 months they will select 5 candidates from the 40 to serve as Governor General. the The Citizens Assembly will disband upon the completion of this duty._

 _In a secret ballot, using single transferable vote, the Grand Assembly will then vote on the 5 candidates and elect the next Governor General._

* * *

 **Timeline Changes So Far**

 _First colony on mars: 27 years earlier than canon_

 _Discovery of Prothean ruins: 64 years earlier than canon_

 _Founding of the Systems Alliance (council of nations version): 63 years earlier than canon_

 _First Contact War: 45 years earlier than canon_

 _Founding of the Systems Alliance (parliamentary super state version): 44 years earlier than canon_

 _Citadel Ascension Process: 52 years longer than canon (humans become an Associate Race 7 years later than canon)_


	25. Chapter 25

_Standard disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect, nor any other content that you recognise. Some characters and systems are original creations. I am receiving no money for my work._

 _My thanks to HTM for sorting through my spelling and grammar._

* * *

 **The Faroe Islands - Earth**

 **2113.06.21**

* * *

Christine 'Chris' Swinson reflected that if this were a move, given the disaster she had escaped, her transport would currently be buffeted by terrible winds and lashing rain while heading towards a wall of spray as huge waves crashed onto slick black rocks.

Instead the sun was shining brightly, glistening off the azure sea as her transport made the final approach to the airstrip of the Faroe Islands, the beautiful grey and green archipelago thrusting out of the North Atlantic.

The cliff sides were blackened by the water, and the bright green grass swayed gently in the wind. The surprisingly calm sea gently beat the mountainous countryside, as a statue of a horse on its hind legs made out of wires welcomed the country's visitors.

Chris noticed none of this as her armoured land rover disappeared into the side of the mountain and the emergency command base it hid. Built by the Kingdom of Denmark in case of nuclear war, the Alliance had appropriated and updated it. The gamble was that any invading enemies would go for major Alliance cities and populations centers, thus ignoring such a strategically important base.

Chris left the guards outside the meeting room and shut the doors. Only then did she allow a shuddering breath to escape her. She grabbed a mug from the stash and knocked the whole lot over with a resounding crash as her hands shook so badly.

The door opened and the Chancellor of the Treasury, Jusaf Bakrie, rushed in. "Are you alright?"

"IF 'TWASN'T FOR IRISSA I WIADE TAKN A SGIAN DUBHS TO MA HEART! DO YA THINK I'M FUCKING ALRIGHT YA DAFT CUNT!?"

Jusaf wordlessly took the mug from Christine's shanking hands, not understanding half of the Scot's words that the normally composed Foreign Secretary had used, and made tea as she gathered herself.

He handed it to her. "Thank Allah for the emergency protocols at least. It was very nearly a full decapitation strike."

"And we thought that Rajendra was being too paranoid when he designed them," Chris deadpanned, her hands steadying as she was fortified with tea.

"What was it he said? 'A nation lives or dies by its emergency protocols. If the situation is serious enough to enact them, then it will be to chaotic, with too many powerbrokers missing, for anything made up on the fly to work.'" Jusaf shook his head in horror. "Well he was right about that."

All of the Cabinet had smiled and indulged Rajendra Tharoor as he designed the protocols, decreeing that the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister should be together as little as possible, and that the four great secretaries of state, Prime, Chancellor, Foreign and Home, should never, under _any_ circumstances, all be together in one place.

When he had added that the Governor General must not, under _any_ circumstances be in the same solar system as more than one of the great secretaries, and then only if the remainder were all in three different systems – his 'triple lock' – several of the Cabinet had outright laughed. Only behind his back of course.

Jusaf and Christine were willing to bet that they were not laughing now.

"How did it come to this?" Jusaf wondered aloud. "How did we end up with the three of you standing in the open when Anita had just been assassinated?"

"We were arrogant," Chris muttered darkly. "Anita was taken out with poison, on foreign territory, in the outer reaches of the Alliance. Yes, we were in the open. But we were on Earth, in our capital city, with every vantage point secured by the Swiss Guard. Rajendra thought that made us invulnerable."

She stammered for a moment. "I thought that made us invulnerable too."

"Everyone did, Chris," Jusaf patted her shoulder reassuringly. "The others will be here via hologram soon. Shall we address the War Cabinet first, Prime Minister? There seems little point given how a third of it is dead, we might as well go straight to addressing the full Cabinet."

Christine Swinson stood stunned for a moment as that sunk in, but the emergency protocols were clear.

If a situation was serious enough to call for their activation, then it was too serious to engage in the orgy of bloodletting that was a political party's leadership contest, however shortened and informal it was made, before a response could be mounted.

There were many different leadership styles, but none of them reacted well to having the leader removed without warning.

Rajendra had led the conservatives by promoting Jusaf Bakrie and Jack Harper above all of the others. It allowed him to divide and rule the party as their supporters focused on manoeuvring their chosen candidate into position before plotting against him. All he had to do was ensure that Jusaf and Jack remained relatively evenly matched and he had free reign.

Now he was gone, and the conservatives were split into two evenly matched factions. Asking them to pick one of them as a new leader in a matter of hours wasn't going to work.

Oesman Odang had led the socialists by ensuring all the leadership positions were filled with his loyalists, keeping anyone with leadership ambitions of their own well away from power, even if their ideas were regularly co-opted into party policy. With him gone, there was no clear successor to the leadership of the socialists, and it would likely take days, maybe weeks, for those that had the skill to emerge from the political wilderness they had been banished to and build enough support.

Christine did at least concede in her head that her liberals were no better. Her control over them was tenuous as she had appointed the most skilled and knowledgeable people to her top team, no matter what. Of course, that meant that her leadership team all had leadership ambitions, had personalities that clashed badly with each other, and all had their own ideas about what direction the party should go in.

Chris used her charm and personal relationships with them to both ride the tiger she had created and to keep it pointed in a vaguely useful direction. If she had been killed as well, the leaders of the liberals would all have been pulling in different directions before her body had hit the floor. And it would take even longer than the other two parties for a leader that could get them all pulling in the same direction again to emerge.

She shuddered as she realised that the emergency protocols would then have selected Asa Lovin as the new Prime Minister. Following through the line of the coalition government's component party leaders was good for the first three, but the greens were so far behind the others. Would the Grand Assembly have accepted her when her party wasn't even strong enough to take one of the big four posts in the government? Thankfully the emergency protocols foresaw that and gave other options, but all of them were… drastic.

The incoming communications alert chimed from the head of the table. The seat usually occupied by Rajendra Tharoor.

Jusaf Bakrie nodded significantly to it before moving around to his customary position, the first seat on the right hand side.

Chris took a steadying breath before answering the call, allowing the remaining Cabinet members to appear in their customary seats via hologram.

"An interesting choice of seat, Christine," Jack Harper commented as he took a drag on his cigarette.

"The emergency protocols are clear. In the event of the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister both being unable to discharge their duties, leadership of the Systems Alliance descends through the other party leaders of the Coalition Government, before passing through the leadership of the Opposition parties until someone is capable of discharging said duties."

There was no doubt our hesitation in Chris Swinson's voice, despite what she was feeling.

"Capable of discharging said duties _and_ can command the confidence of the Grand Assembly. Can you do that, Ms. Swinson?"

The seat at the opposite end of the table was usually empty. Given the circumstances, today it was filled by Laura Brannigan, the Governor General, in their role as constitutional referee.

"I have the support of the liberals of course, and the confirmed support of half of the conservatives," Chris shot a confirmatory look at Jusaf before turning to her green counterpart. "Asa?"

"You have the support of the greens," the elegant Minister of Defence replied calmly.

"Andrew?" The Minister of Health, Andrew Crawley was the highest-ranking socialist minister left in the Cabinet, as such he was virtually assured to be the socialists's caretaker leader while they elected a new permanent one.

"You have the support of the socialists."

All eyes in the cabinet turned to Jack Harper, whose confident façade didn't waver for a moment. "I was merely pointing out the presumption, of course you have the full support of the conservatives."

The faces of several of the Cabinet showed outright disbelief, but Governor General Brannigan cut across them. "Very well. Christine Swinson, as the constitution empowers me to do, I hereby appoint you Prime Minister of the Systems Alliance. Hold and win a confidence vote in the Grand Assembly within 48 hours, or I will remove you and following the emergency protocols, install someone who can."

Prime Minister Swinson nodded as the Governor General's hologram winked out, their job done.

"Defence," Chris spoke with utter confidence as she turned towards Asa Lovin. "Order all fleets to sail out and head towards their mustering areas immediately."

"Isn't that an overreaction? These blows have been immense, but they have all been assassinations. There has been no sign of an invasion force," Sapient Rights spoke up challengingly.

"Maybe not," Christine answered, iron in her tone. "But I will not take the chance. If this attack had succeeded it would have been a near total decapitation strike, the perfect accompaniment to an invasion. I will not have our fleet's capital ships caught at anchor just because I was worried about appearing paranoid, here will be no Pearl Harbour on my watch."

Lovin nodded. "I will order all fleets to sail out immediately."

Her hologram winked out as the rest of the Cabinet adjusted to their new leadership.

"So," Transport spoke up hesitantly. "Are we any closer to understanding how Ambassador Goyle was killed? Are these attacks connected?"

Asa Lovin answered as her hologram reappeared. "Naval intelligence tracked down the source. Someone compromised a maintenance tech on Anita's cruiser. They installed what they thought was a recording device on her armour to give one of our shipbuilding companies the edge in supplying the quarian's needs. In reality, as well as a recording device, it also contained a microdrill to breach the suit it was attached to, and introduced a poison designed to cause a brain aneurysm in humans."

"So it was the Citadel," Industry spoke up in disgust.

"That's a bit of a leap," Sentient Rights shot back.

Industry snorted at their naivete. "A maintenance tech wouldn't confuse a human made device housing a microdrill for a simple recorder, it would be too large. This had to be a Citadel device disguised to look like a human one, unless the maintenance tech was fully aware that they were involved in an assassination rather than industrial espionage."

Asa replied with certainty. "No, they have been very co-operative since they found out what they were actually involved in. They even gave up their handler, who was dead by the time we got to them."

"Of course," Jusaf Bakire commented wearily. "So, we know that those who assassinated Anita had access to Citadel technology, but that's it. We have no idea who it was."

"I think we know _exactly_ who it was. Fucking Tevos Calis," Environment spat.

"Not necessarily," Prime Minister Swinson interjected for the first time. "It might also have been Corinthus Oraka. The turians want this quarian alliance to fail out of pure spite for the outcome of the war, just as much as Tevos wants it to out of pure spite for outmanoeuvring her and getting her censured."

"Interesting trick, you move your mouth and Irissa's voice comes out," Jack Harper spoke with a lack of respect that lowered the temperature of the room by several degrees.

"The source of the suggestion is irrelevant, what matters is if it stands up under rigorous analysis. And it does," Chris spoke back calmly, using facts against Culture's innuendo and taking detailed mental notes of the other cabinet ministers's reactions.

"Of course, my apologies. But I take it this will mean we are not taking retaliatory assassinations?"

"Not until we know which of them was responsible. We cannot afford to target the wrong one, or both, and unify our enemies more than they already are," Christine confirmed.

She noted the eye flick between Industry and Culture. It seemed Jack Harper had his first recruit to what was undoubtedly going to be a play for the Prime Minister's office.

"Do we think the attack at Vancouver is linked? Was Anita assassinated to get Rajendra, Oesman and Christine into the right place?" Andrew Crawley tentatively asked.

"Unlikely," Sentient Rights dismissed the question. "The assassins wouldn't have expected their ploy to fail. The only reason we uncovered the Citadel plot is because we have a body to examine. If we were embroiled in a shooting war with the quarians we would never have known of their involvement and all of us would be under wartime security protocols. No, the chances of the two being linked are far too remote."

Sentient Rights paused for a moment to adequately express her contempt for Culture. "This was the result of Culture's toxic propaganda campaign against the alien races to justify the increased taxes required to fund our military reforms. I warned Rajendra this would happen. And now it has."

Jack simply smiled at the contempt being sent his way. "The campaign was necessary, and we all agreed to it, so let's not start pointing fingers now."

A stony silence settled over the cabinet room until Defence returned. "What are we going to do about Wachtmeister Mader?" she asked calmly.

"Normally the Home Secretary would oversee their interrogation but…" Asa didn't complete the sentence. There was no need.

"I've run several companies's internal security departments," Jack spoke up calmly. "Until the Prime Minister can find a new home secretary, I'm the best choice to oversee the interrogation."

"I'm sure," Sentient Rights deadpanned.

"It's also a matter of efficiency, if we are to get ahead of this and avoid mass panic…"

Several ministers snorted.

"…any _more_ mass panic, and the total short-term meltdown of the economy, our media response needs to be efficient and accurate," Industry spoke up in support of Culture.

"Jack holds the media brief. He has the contacts with the networks to get them all singing from the hymn sheet we want them to. Let's not play politics," Environment added their voice in support as well, causing Asa to look very hard at her fellow green party minister.

Chris Swinson pursed her lips in disgust. Industry made excellent points, there really was no reason not to give Jack Harper the responsibility, unless it was how deeply she distrusted and hated him. But she wasn't Rajendra, she didn't have the support to throw him out of the cabinet right now, and so her only option was to keep him focused on other issues and not on taking her job.

And to hope that if she gave him enough rope, he would hang himself.

"I expect results, Culture." The clear, confident tones carried over Sentient Rights's protests. "If not, I would suggest you consider your position."

Jack Harper simply smiled, calmly. "I would never fail to protect humanity from anyone who would threaten it. I'll get the information we need."

His hologram winked out, followed by the rest of the Cabinet.

Prime Minister Swinson was left sitting with her Chancellor, with the nagging feeling that she had made a terrible mistake.

* * *

 **The Citadel – The Serpent Nebula**

 **2113.06.21**

* * *

Councillor Tolan waited in his secure communications chamber for the comms to connect. The STG constantly monitored it and kept it clean of any Citadel intelligence network, there were benefits to being the Citadel's spymasters after all.

Dalatrass Solus, Tsarina of the Salarian Union, shimmered into view as the comms finally matched encryption routines.

"Apologies, Dalatrass. Used best asset available in Vasir, but operation still only resulted in partial success."

"Majority success Tolan," Dalatrass Solus replied. "Save false modesty for inner cabinet. Prefer you provide accurate analysis."

The male salarian breathed deeply before replying. "STG disruption of human-quarian alliance total failure. Admiral Gazu failed to act as personality profile indicated. Mitigated by fact humans are looking in wrong direction. Majority of humans blaming asari, asari have convinced minority to blame turians. Union remains above suspicion."

"As we should," Dalatrass Solus replied decisively, a hint of a smile on her lips. "Lack of assets in human and quarian society may be hampering efforts. But all inner cabinet should resign in disgrace if cannot deflect blame from failed operations."

Tolan grinned as well. Deflecting blame onto your enemies was something salarians learned when they were still wet from the egg.

"Use of Vasir to eliminate human leaders only partially successful. Primary civil war objective failed, but secondary objective of increased suspicion towards turians and asari succeeded. Will draw closer to us as result, as secondary objective intended. Will also hamper investigation into failed Goyle operation."

"Christine Swinson's survival, problematic. Weaker than Tharoor, but still competent. Human government paralysed externally, stopping any future projects until STG can find and counter them, but internal authority maintained. No chaos to drive quarians away. No civil war factions to co-opt and support."

"Contingency plan in motion to address quarian matter," the salarian Tsarina replied. "Continue to work to support humans against turians and asari. Must draw them as close as possible to us. Humans must not consider anyone other than Union for assistance when quarian issue dealt with. Must also find way to neutralise Alliance emergency protocols if plan to make them volus-like client state to succeed, current ones have proved too capable of preventing civil war."

Councillor Tolan nodded. "Will do so. Long time since race so accomplished in shadow arts has had strength to challenge us. Enjoying game immensely."

"Agreed, has been to long since Union seriously had to try, good work out for STG. Setbacks humans have inflicted have gone long way to addressing increasing institutional arrogance, will make victory even sweeter."

Dalatrass Solus wavered out of existence as Councillor Tolan left and sealed the sanctuary, returning to the bustle of the Citadel.

* * *

 **Unknown Location – Earth**

 **2113.06.22**

* * *

Jack Harper wasn't angry. He had passed that point some time ago. He had passed furious and apocalyptic too and was currently battling the urge to strangle a certain member of the Swiss Guard with his bare hands.

Not one iota of this appeared on his face.

As soon as the assassin had been reported as a Cerberus operative, Jack had been tearing apart his organisation trying to find where the orders had come from and who thought it was a good idea to protest alien interference in human affairs by assassinating human leaders, rather than the damn alien leaders that had been at the same bloody funeral!

As he stared across the interrogation table at Alois Mader, the bitterness of his agents of human protection being misused so badly filled his mouth.

Mader had been the weak link. He had been too vocal, too obvious, his cell had already had to petition for substantial Cerberus resources to be committed to keeping him in the Swiss Guard because of it. It seemed someone else had noticed too.

They had also noticed his carelessness.

Jack reflected that if only there were some way to control all of his agents and assets directly, everything would be so much simpler for him. As it was, the cell structure of Cerberus prevented his direct oversight, and human incompetence always found a way to assert itself.

Mader had given away the identity of his cell leader due to his laziness with his comms encryption protocols, and from there it had been laughably easy for the Citadel agent.

Jack was in no doubt that it was a Citadel agent, unlike the rest of the Cabinet. Of course, he couldn't exactly tell the Cabinet that as they would ask how he was so certain, and the answer 'well I am the leader of the human centric terrorist organisation and it wasn't me', while amusing, wasn't going to solve the problem.

Jack didn't know how it was done, and quite frankly, he didn't care. Whether it was blackmail, using Citadel tech to infect the cell leader's computer with incriminating sex crimes, financial crimes, evidence linking to a murder, whether it had been bribery, or whether it had just been good old-fashioned torture, the result had been the same.

The Citadel agent had got Mader's cell leader to give the order to eliminate the rooftop patrol he was assigned to, and await the arrival of the asset, the arrival of them. Then they had eliminated her.

Jack kept all of these thoughts behind a mask of indifference before leaning forward.

"Vengeance, butter, igneous, pencil, seawater," the leader of Cerberus rattled off the codewords for Mader's cell and took vicious pleasure from watching the blood drain from the former Swiss Guard's face.

"Sir! I didn't realise-"

"Shut up." Jack's voice was light and unconcerned, the opposite to how he was feeling. He could explain everything to the pathetic specimen of humanity before him, but quite frankly he couldn't be bothered. He would tell Mader what he needed to hear to get the information he needed. Jack wasn't willing to spend any more energy than necessary on this walking fuckup, even if telling him exactly how he had done more damage to Cerberus than any Alliance or national intelligence agency since its founding would have given him a lot of pleasure.

"You have no idea the amount of resources I have had to expend to get you put into a containment area where my agents can delete recordings and keep this conversation private. All because you were taken alive."

Mader gulped.

"I was supposed to remain behind and take the blame, sir."

"Yes, to draw the response teams to you, allowing the asset to escape. But you _were not_ to be taken _alive_."

The anger finally leaked through into Jack's voice, causing the former guardsmen to cower.

"Sir, I-"

"Silence. You will tell my interrogators everything about the asset. Every single detail you remember. Then they will ensure you suffer an accident, as you were so thoughtless to have been captured. Everyone talks eventually and I won't have you spilling Cerberus secrets to interrogators I don't control."

"I thought… the asset?" Mader's voice quivered with confusion.

Jack decided to let Mader know at least a little of the consequences of his actions.

"This operation was planned by your cell leader, on my orders of course, but Sarah handled everything herself, including recruitment. Your laziness with your comms encryption ensured Alliance intelligence got to her before I could warn her. She went down fighting, like a true defender of humanity."

From the look of crushing defeat on his face Jack surmised Mader had had a crush on his cell leader, at least there was an explanation for why he was contacting her so much.

"The asset is very useful, but you're the only one who has seen her now. Give me the information so Sarah's best recruitment work isn't lost, then try and die with a tenth of the dignity she did."

Jack walked out, confident that he would soon have the information he needed, and the leak would be plugged.

Swinson would no doubt scream bloody murder at the death of the perpetrator in custody, bloody liberal that she was, but Jack was prepared to sacrifice enough of Cerberus's lower level cells to placate the rest of the Cabinet.

Chris could scream all she wanted, but he would appear successful enough that she wouldn't be able to remove him. And one day, he would have enough power to remove her instead.

* * *

 **The Faroe Islands – Earth**

 **2113.06.26**

* * *

Christine Swinson, Prime Minister of the Systems Alliance, groaned as the emergency comms tone tore her out of sleep. After 4 days of firefighting, winning a confidence vote in the Grand Assembly, and finally having her first walkabout since the attack in Vancouver 5 days previously, she had been forced to rest by the surgeon general.

"What is it?" she growled out, effortlessly implying that it had better be good.

"The junior home office minister is outside Prime Minister."

"Outside the Bunker?"

"Outside your bedroom."

Chris pulled on a dressing gown before opening her bedroom door and motioning the junior minister inside. Circumstances might have forced her to allow Jack Harper to oversee the investigation into the Vancouver attack, but she was dammed if she was going to let him get his grubby little hands on the federal police and federal courts.

As such she'd given the job of home secretary temporarily to the most senior of the 3 junior home office ministers while she searched for the cabinet minister level replacement.

"This had better be very good, Marta."

The Polish minister stood her ground despite Chris's harsh tone.

"The human-quarian Alliance is about to implode."

Silence filled the bedroom for several heartbeats.

"Explain. _Now_ ," Prime Minister Swinson barked out.

"The declaration of principles states that the Systems Alliance will not engage in diplomacy with any government actively engaged in a campaign of genocide," the temporary home secretary stated calmly.

"I'm well aware, I helped write them. Get to the point."

"Are the geth alive?" the question stopped Christine in her tracks. She could already see where this line of questioning was going.

"Jesus Christ, tell me someone isn't-"

"A lawsuit will be filed in Vancouver tomorrow stating that the geth meet the threshold that the test criteria and laws governing our AI research require for sapience. As such they are alive. Given that, and the fact that the Migrant Fleet is openly stating that their end goal is not just to take back their homeworld, but also to carry out the Quarian Federation's command that started this whole shit show off – namely to permanently deactivate all geth – the migrant fleet is engaged in a campaign of genocide."

"As such it is the duty of the government to annul all treaties with the Migrant Fleet and expel any vessel registered with them from Alliance space. Fuck." Chris followed the lawsuit to its intended outcome. The declaration of principles for the Alliance's foreign policy was short to avoid exactly this sort of problem. But it seems that the universe wasn't feeling co-operative.

"Kill it," the Prime Minister stated as she headed to the bathroom to get dressed and do damage control with the Migrant Fleet.

"How? It's a legal challenge and the hearing date is set-"

" _I don't care_!" The exhaustion of the last few days finally overcame Chris's control.

"Check who's bringing the suit and bribe them! Blackmail them! Intimidate them! Stack the court with anti-AI judges, stack it with pro-quarian judges, stack it with people we have dirt on, just KILL the damn thing!"

"That's not the fair and equal access to justice we are supposed to be upholding!" Marta called out as Chris shut the door.

It was promptly wrenched open again. "No, it isn't. It's international diplomacy. We only have two allies in this god forsaken galaxy, the quarians and the salarians, and I won't see that list of two cut in half when it's the only thing keeping batarian dreadnoughts from darkening our skies! It's illegal, it's against the declaration of principles, against the belief in equal access to justice, and it's certainly morally wrong. But it's what needs to happen for our survival. So, make it happen."

"So, what was the point of the declaration of principles? Or pretending we believe in equality?" Marta muttered, disillusioned.

Chris took pity on her for a moment. "Because although it's necessary, it should never be legal. If it were, it would mean that we had given up on equality and on our principles entirely, and governments would be far too quick to use it to solve every problem, rather than reserving it for only problems that threaten our survival as a free species. We have to try and make reality match our principles, our hopes, every day. But sometimes, leaders need to put aside their principles and hopes and do distasteful things to ensure the survival of the human race. It's illegal because that should never be an easy decision to make, and because if it comes to light once the crisis has passed, our children should know that they should condemn us for it, even if it is the only reason they are alive. Otherwise society will never improve."

The junior home office minister nodded. Clearly still disillusioned but placated as well.

"I'll work on stacking the court instead of going after the organisers. That way at least everyone will still have faith that they can actually bring lawsuits against the government that we don't like."

Chris cracked a rueful smile. "Given the number of lawsuits with mine and the cabinet's names on file this week, I don't think anyone is in danger of losing faith in that."

* * *

 _ **Codex Entry: The Government of the Systems Alliance – The Supreme Court**_

 _(Citadel Codex, First Human SPECTRE Collector's Edition, 2183)_

* * *

 _The Supreme Court of the Systems Alliance consists of 15 judges, however only 9 of them will sit in judgement at any one time. The judging panel is randomly selected from the 15 minus any judges that have recused themselves because of conflicts of interest._

 _This was implemented to try and ensure that a single death or resignation could not change the political leaning of the Supreme Court overnight._

 _The members of the Supreme Court are drawn from all levels of the judiciary._

 _3 are magistrates, 3 are district court judges, 3 are county court judges, 3 are planetary court judges, and 3 are cluster court judges._

 _They are appointed in the same way as the Gyaan Sabah, though in the case of the citizens assembly stage all members must be members of the judiciary._

* * *

 _ **Codex Entry: The Government of the Systems Alliance – The Emergency Protocols**_

 _(Citadel Codex, First Human SPECTRE Collector's Edition, 2183)_

* * *

 _The Emergency Protocols dictate who governs the Systems Alliance in the even that the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister are dead or incapable of fulfilling their duties._

 _The triple lock system is designed to ensure that at least one level one member should survive any decapitation attack, making the more extreme elements of the emergency protocols redundant._

 _It dictates that the Prime and Deputy Prime Ministers should be together as little as possible and that the_ _4 great secretaries of state (Prime, Chancellor, Foreign and Home), should never, under ANY circumstances, all be together in one place. In addition, the Governor General must not, under ANY circumstances be in the same solar system as more than one of the great secretaries, and then only if the other three are all in three different systems._

 _The Constitutional Order of Successon is as follows._

 _1.) The Prime Minister_

 _2.) The Deputy Prime Minister_

 _A successful confidence vote in the Grand Assembly must be held within 48 hours of any of the following ascending to the position of Prime Minister, provided that more than 60% of the Grand Assembly survived the attack and is present for the voting. If this criteria cannot be met due to more than 40% of the Grand Assembly being killed, then the permission of the Governor General replaces the confidence vote._

 _3.) The other party leaders of the coalition government, descending in size order_

 _4.) Any surviving great secretary of state not covered by entry 3_

 _5.) The leaders of the opposition parties, descending in size order_

 _6.) Any surviving minister of the war cabinet_

 _7.) Any surviving cabinet minister_

 _8.) Any surviving minister of the shadow war cabinet_

 _9.) Any surviving shadow cabinet minister_

 _If none of these candidates survived or could win a confidence vote, then provided more than 60% of the_ _Grand Assembly survived the attack and is present for the voting, any sitting MP can attempt to win a confidence vote within 96 hours of the attack. The Governor General will exercise executive power while this voting takes place._

 _Should the Grand Assembly still be unable to select a new Prime Minister, it is deemed to have failed in its duty to the Systems Alliance and is disbanded._

 _10.) Any Sitting MP that can win a confidence vote of the General Assembly._

 _If none of those listed in stages 1-9 survived and more than 40% of the Grand Assembly was killed in the attack, or stage 10 has failed and the Grand Assembly has been dissolved, then the Governor General will rule the Systems Alliance as both head of government and as head of state, with the assembled cluster government First Ministers acting as a council to replace parliament and prevent dictatorial rule. This situation may not exceed 2 years. Regardless of the situation, a full General Election MUST be held before the expiration of that time to ensure a return to democratic rule._

 _11.) The Governor General_

 _If the Governor General has also been killed, then the cluster government First Ministers will elect one of their number to the position of Governor General and they will rule as if they had been appointed normally, subject to the maximum 2 year emergency rule period._

 _12.) Any surviving cluster government First Minister._

 _It is the statement of the Systems Alliance constitution; that if all of the people listed in these 12 stages are dead or unable to command the confidence of the surviving representatives, then the Systems Alliance has effectively ceased to exist. The order 'every man for himself' is given. May God help us all._

* * *

 **Timeline Changes So Far**

 _First colony on mars: 27 years earlier than canon_

 _Discovery of Prothean ruins: 64 years earlier than canon_

 _Founding of the Systems Alliance (council of nations version): 63 years earlier than canon_

 _First Contact War: 45 years earlier than canon_

 _Founding of the Systems Alliance (parliamentary super state version): 44 years earlier than canon_

 _Citadel Ascension Process: 52 years longer than canon (humans become an Associate Race 7 years later than canon)_


End file.
